The Presidential Race
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: As Senior Year begins, the Rangers have more to worry about than just the Warstar and the Mutants. Will adding High School Politics to the mix really make things any easier?
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events, characters etc. Anything not covered by these rights should be presumed to be purely the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T – there may be some adult themes and language.

As Monday morning rolled around, the students were filing into the school, heading for their lockers. Emma, Gia and Noah were all standing by Gia's locker, talking when Jake and Jordan arrived. Emma and Noah were talking excitedly, and flailing wildly as they did so.

"OK, that's the way to hide your excitement." Jordan chuckled, pulling in closely. "I thought we were meant to keep the fact our new principal used to dress formally on the DL."

"It's not about that; it's about the meteor shower this weekend." Noah told them, showing Jordan his laptop. "I got the alert from a NASA website, there was a major intergalactic collision just outside the solar system, and debris is heading this way."

"And...That's a good thing?" Jake asked him.

"It's going to miss us by miles." Noah assured them. "But it's going to pass close enough to give us a serious light show. It should be visible to the naked eye from the hills on the edge of town."

"It's going to be amazing. We should all go and see it." Emma gushed. "I've always loved shooting stars. I always loved the idea of making wishes on them..."

"Uh...Emma, isn't that all, you know...kids' stuff?" Jordan asked her as he got some books out of his own locker. "I'd have thought you'd have grown out of all that stuff."

"You're never too old to have dreams." Emma replied with a smile. Jordan snorted in response.

"Yeah, because dreams really come true every day of the week." He said slightly sarcastically. "If that was true, the average lottery jackpot would be about a dollar because everyone would win."

"You always said I was too cynical." Gia commented to Emma.

"Jordan, you can't honestly tell me that you don't have dreams." Noah asked him. "I mean, I'm as sceptical as the next guy about a lot of things, but even I have dreams and hopes and stuff."

"Hopes are one thing, and yeah, I dream, they're kind of like cool little movies in my head while I sleep, nothing more." Jordan stated. "But dreams aren't realistic. Believing that I'm going to...I don't know...win an Olympic medal in soccer or..."

"Dress formally?" Gia chipped in, using their code. They had now adopted a code to use when talking to each other in public. Dressing formally was the code they used referring to morphing. "One of your dreams did come true already remember?"

"That was just coincidence. I was in the right place at the right time. I didn't do anything to make that happen." Jordan reiterated.

"Well, I just think dreams are important." Emma responded. "It gives us all something to aspire to, something to reach for. Without dreams...what would stop us from just sitting around on our butts all day? Why would Noah do all those experiments, half of which blow up?"

"Hey!" Noah protested. "Only about 35 percent of them do!"

"Look, there are two kinds of people, those that sit around and wait for things to happen, and those that go out and actually work to make them happen." Jordan told her a little too bluntly. "Sitting around dreaming for stuff to happen doesn't make it happen."

Emma looked like she was about to say something, but she turned and left without another word. Gia just shook her head and looked to Jordan.

"You know, you can be a real jerk at times." She stated. Gia and Jordan had something of a playfully antagonistic relationship. They both enjoyed goading each other, but none of it was ever meant to offend. Gia was always teasing Jordan about his status as the team rookie, and Jordan never seemed to be happier than when he was pissing her off, but they both could tell when something had been said that was meant to be taken seriously. He just held up his hands.

"What did I...?"

"You're entitled to your opinion, but so is Emma." Gia told him bluntly. "You had no right to make light of something she cares about and believes in so much."

As she walked away to find Emma, he just looked to Jake and Noah.

"I never said anything that bad." He stated. "I just..."

"Learn when to just stop talking dude." Jake sighed, shaking his head. "Seriously, just...let it go."

Just then, the PA system crackled into life.

"All students move to the assembly hall for a full student body announcement." Principal Kwann's voice announced. Jake just shrugged.

"I guess the new Principal's finally going to introduce herself to the students." He surmised.

"Come on guys." Noah replied. "Let's just get this over with."

In another part of town, Jordan's dad was at home, thrashing out some of his frustrations in his basement gym. Since the visit by Agent Scott and Agent Kwann, he had been placed on "sabbatical". He was still being paid by the military, but his mission had been terminated, and they hadn't given him a new assignment, or told him when or even IF he would get another. It was a nice way of saying that someone above his pay grade had wanted him out of the way. In effect, he was suspended from duty.

A lot of people would like the sound of that. In effect, he was being paid to stay at home and do nothing, but General Jack Edwards was not like a lot of people. He was a proud and ambitious man. When the Robo Knight had turned up in town and started tearing the place up, General Edwards had seen the opportunity he was looking for and manoeuvred himself into the think tank dedicated to discussing the potential threat that the Rangers posed with their powers. He had proposed a mission to find out who they were, and find a way to sign them up to the military, or if they refused, to find a way to bring their power under control.

He had always believed in making things happen. He was never one to sit around and just wait for life to hand him everything he wanted, and he saw Operation Knightfall as a way to get it. Operation Knightfall was meant to be the shining light that capped off a storied and accomplished military career before he retired. He was planning on moving into politics after he retired, and after a term as a Governor or Senator on the backing of his military reputation, running for the White House.

When Operation Knightfall came around, he saw a major opportunity to springboard a step and enter into the next general election. After all, if he was the one who got the Power Rangers to sign up to the military, or...better still...if he could have BECOME one of the Rangers, then who would the public really vote for? Zack Taylor, the idiot currently in office, or him?

Now though, he was on the bench. His operation had been shut down by someone higher up on the chain than he was. Worse still, they hadn't told him when, or even if he was being assigned to another mission. It was possible they would simply wait until his latest tour of duty expired, and then not re-sign him, meaning that he would have to rely on all his other accomplishments to get him into office. It was a major set-back, one that would cost him years, if not longer.

As he finished his latest set of reps on the multi gym, he sat up and started to mop himself down with a towel, he couldn't help thinking of the fact that Agent Kwann had been sent to assist HIS operation, and yet in the end she had shut him down. She had sold him out. He couldn't imagine what she was being given in return, but it still angered him to know that she had flushed his crowning moment down the toilet.

As he picked up his bottle of water and took a sip, he couldn't help thinking about what Nojoke had said. He had told him that Jordan, his own son, was the Robo Knight that had caused so much trouble. It was because of the gas that he had laughed out loud and ended up trapped in the bottle, but he had to wonder, why would the alien freak say that?

Then he thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head and smiling. Jordan, as much as he loved him, didn't have it in him to pull something like that off. As much as he had tried to motivate him, Jordan was directionless, ambitionless...the only thing he knew about being a hero was what he read in all those comic books that he kept bringing home. He had already made it clear he would never sign up. Jordan wasn't like him; he didn't have it in him to assume a role like that.

As he got up, heading to the corner of the room, he picked up a newspaper as he headed for his study. The Government might not be funding him anymore, and he might have lost his team, but right now, he was on "sabbatical". That meant technically his time was his own. The government couldn't tell him what to do on his vacation time; they couldn't stop him if he wanted to continue his investigation on his own.

Meanwhile, on another planet, an alien was sitting in a dark, dingy drinking hole, surrounded by dubious characters, listening for any rumours and generally passing the time. He took a long slurp of a green, bubbling liquid as his two companions sat with him. All three of them were wearing long, dark robes with hoods, pulled up to conceal their faces.

Vrak walked into the bar, looking around. This was a dangerous part of the galaxy, most of the patrons here had records on multiple worlds, but they all knew better than to bother him. He had a reputation all of his own. He strode over to the booth, standing over them.

"Lord Vrak!" One of them greeted him. "You never sent word you wanted..."

"Your last haul of little trinkets don't work!" Vrak growled, tossing the data cards onto the table. They were transparent, with alien writing on them, and covered in scorch marks. The trader just looked to them and then to Vrak.

"You bought them as seen." The trader said with a shrug. "I told you they were damaged when you bought them."

"We were here too, we witnessed the transaction." One of his companions stated. "You bought goods you knew were damaged; we're not responsible if they don't work. No refunds."

"No refunds." The other companion parroted as he took an egg from a bowl on the table and popped it in his mouth, eating it shell and all.

"You heard my compatriots." The trader stated. "No ref..."

Vrak grabbed the trader and hauled him off his seat, before ramming him against a wall, winding him. He was clearly irate.

"That might work with the other lowlife scum you trade with, but not with me!" Vrak yelled at him, ramming him against the wall again. This time, the hood fell down, revealing a white headed creature with a kind of beak-like muzzle, and long ears. "I expect my money back Finster!"

As the other two made a move, he held up a finger in warning.

"You'd both be dead before you got to the door!" He snarled. "SIT!"

"B-b-b-but I can't give you your money back!" Finster babbled out.

"You're not much use to me alive are you Finster?" He asked, his claws springing out.

"I mean it, I CAN'T give you your money back, I don't have it!" Finster screamed.

"It's true, we really don't!" Babboo added, pulling down his hood. "We don't have a benefactor."

"Yeah, former employees of Lord Zedd don't have great employment prospects." Squat agreed, pulling down his hood. "In case you forgot, the Z-wave turned our last boss into a...a...a...human!"

"Everyone else we worked with was turned to sand." Babboo reminded him. "We don't know why we weren't destroyed, but we've got to live!"

"Well, maybe I can spare you that..."

"Please, just...let me look at them." Finster begged him. Vrak just dropped him, at which Finster looked to the data cards, inspecting them thoroughly. "I don't think there's enough data here to make them work..."

Vrak popped out his claws again.

"There may be another way!" He shrieked. "There isn't enough data to make them work independently, but you CAN harness their power. It'll just take a while...and someone to give the powers to."

"Really?" Vrak asked. "You wouldn't be trying to get out of paying me what you owe me would you?"

"Please, I...I don't have the money." Finster told him. "I'll give you something else, free of charge! I still have plenty of..."

"Take me to this store room of yours." Vrak said with a sick smile. "I'm sure I can determine what I think you owe me."

"Finster don't!" Babboo blurted out. "If you show him, we'll have no..."

Vrak silenced him with a back-handed swipe, raking his claws across Babboo's face, slicing deep, nasty gashes across his cheek. He clutched his face in shock.

"So, you were showing me this storage space?" Vrak asked.

"Of...of course." Finster said nervously. "Come this way."

With that, they all left the bar, heading for a waiting ship.

Back at Harwood High School, Principal Kwann took the podium as the students all took their seats. As part of the deal for finding the Rangers and taking down Edwards' operation to find and expose the team, she had insisted that she remain in the city and take on the Headmistress position in the school.

They had already figured out that since most of the monster attacks took place close to the high school that there was a better than average chance that the latest teams were kids, just like they had been back in Trini's day. She knew all too well the pressures and trials that being a Ranger put on them, and she knew how the responsibilities of a High School student weren't exactly helpful to that mission. She had already given them somewhere to train out of sight, and she would do what she could to help them and make their schedules a little lighter.

"Welcome to the new school year. I am a little late in introducing myself, but I needed a while to get my bearings." She told them. "I'm Principal Kwann, and I promise I'll do all I can to make your time here a little easier."

The kids just listened with disinterest. Most of them heard this kind of thing regularly. She just smiled, thinking that she had been much the same in her time.

"Now, as you know, each year, we elect a student from Junior and Senior year to act on the student staff consultative committee, and this year will be no exception." She told them. "The votes are in, and now we've narrowed it down to four candidates for each year."

As she started to read out the names, Gia leaned over to Emma.

"So, do you think you made it?" Gia asked. "I was on the Flagship at the weekend, and I know a lot of them want you on the council."

"The Environmental club seem supportive too." Emma answered. "Howie already said he'd take on more responsibility if I get elected to free up some of my time."

As the last name was read out, there was a round of applause from the Juniors. Trini pulled out another list.

"And the candidates for Senior Class President, Mike Weathers." Trini paused as some students applauded, and allowed Mike to stand up and take his adulation. "Jules Denver."

Emma was on the edge of her seat, waiting with anticipation as Jules stood up and waved.

"Emma Goodall." Trini read out, allowing them to applaud her. A huge smile broke across Emma's face and she jumped up, bouncing excitedly, accepting the applause.

"Emma, you did it!" Gia congratulated her friend. "That's so awesome!"

"We'll all help you with your campaign." Troy assured her, putting his arm around her. "Right guys?" Jake hung his head low and put his face in his hands.

"And finally, by an overwhelming write-in vote, Jake Hollings!" She called out. There was a massive wave of applause that was deafening by comparison to the others, and several students also screamed and whistled in approval as Jake held his face in his hands.

"Jake?" Emma asked, looking to him.

"I'm sorry guys...it was coach's idea." He said apologetically. "I don't want to run...I never did! I..."

Jake, stand up!" Trini beckoned him. Jake got up, smiling nervously and waved. As Trini wrapped up the assembly and sent the students back to class, he just looked to his friends apologetically.

"Emma, seriously, I don't want this." Jake told her. "It was the coach, he just wants..."

"Its fine Jake, really it is." Emma assured him. "I guess for now, we'll be running against each other. May the best candidate win!"

As she shook his hand and they headed for class, Jake shook his head in defeat. Why did no one care that he didn't actually want to run for president? He was already starting to understand why everyone always said politics sucks.


	2. Finding Policies

The Rangers made their way into drama class, taking their seats quickly. Although none of them really thought much about taking acting on seriously as a career, it was a fun class that they'd all stuck with. Although none of them would admit it, another motivation was that drama was one of the easier classes to get a good mark in. A few exercises through the year counted towards their final grade, and taking part in at least one production meant a huge boost to their mark.

"Hey Jake, good job getting nominated." Someone congratulated the Black Ranger as he sat down. "You got my vote."

"I haven't even told you what I want to do yet." Jake reminded the kid, but he didn't seem to take any notice as he left. Jake just looked completely dejected as he realised the futility of his situation. Not only was he in an election he never wanted to be part of in the first place, he also seemed to be getting most of his support from people who went on his reputation as the class clown. No doubt a number of people expected him to arrange something legendary for senior prom at the end of the year, and keep them entertained through the rest of the year with his antics. He had a feeling that was the only reason he was going to get anywhere in the election, after all, people were intending to vote for him who didn't even know what his policies were...hell, HE didn't know what his policies were.

"So, ready for your first drama class?" Gia asked Jordan.

"Hey, I did plenty of drama classes in my time." Jordan assured her. "Dad always thought it was a waste of time, but I needed an art elective and..."

"You went for the easy A?" Gia asked. Jordan just smiled and nodded.

"Whoa!" Jordan called out as he sat on a chair and it tipped violently, almost throwing him off. He steadied himself and started rocking the chair back and forward. "Wow, quality furniture."

"Trust me; a lot of the classes are like that." Emma assured him. "All except the gym department...who as memory serves just got a new hot tub installed."

"Don't the drama department bring in money through their plays?" Troy asked. Gia just looked to him.

"Most of it goes straight back out again on costumes, props and sets." She explained. "They put the money into donations, which means..."

"Which means about eighty percent of it goes straight to the athletics department." Noah interrupted her. "You can't blame the teachers really, if they only get half the funding they need, it's no wonder they cut back on stuff like furniture and spend it all on the essentials."

"All I know is someone seriously needs to make a trip to IKEA." Jordan muttered as he looked to his chair. "Is...Is this held together with duct tape?"

"Alright class, settle down." The drama teacher told them, coming into the room and tossing his backpack into the corner. He was a tall, lanky man, with long, black hair tied back into a loose ponytail. He wore simple jeans and a Star Wars t-shirt. He carried himself with a certain kind of confidence and presence that made it easy to believe he had been an actor. He wasn't unattractive, but his features were mostly unremarkable, the kind of guy that was more likely to be cast as the hero's best friend than the hero, which was likely why he now only acted sparingly, preferring the steady income offered by a teaching salary. "For those of you joining me for the first time, I'm Mr Kingston, for those of you returning, welcome back."

He pulled a bunch of flyers out of his bag, and handed them to Troy.

"Mr Burrows isn't it?" He asked. Troy just nodded. "Start handing these around will you? A friend of mine has given me a lead on a very interesting project that will begin in the city, as usual taking part in a production will count towards your final grade."

"Project 0001672?" Noah asked. "It doesn't have a name yet?"

"No Noah, it doesn't have a name yet." He replied with a grin. "Movies often don't have finalised names until closer to their release date."

"A movie?" Mike called out, looking delighted at the thought. Mike Weathers, one of the other candidates for the election, looked like he was almost ready to jump out of his skin in excitement. Mike was a pretty good looking kid, with well-styled, light brown hair, and green eyes. He had a good build, earned through regular workouts in the gym, and was wearing expensive designer labels. He was the kind of guy that always liked to make sure people were paying attention to him. He was widely known as arrogant and self-centred, but he still always had a lot of people hanging around with him. His parents were pretty well-off, meaning he always had plenty of money to splash around, and he was generous with it when people were stroking his ego. "We could be in a movie?"

"They're looking for extras." He told them with a smile. "And there are plenty of open slots to go around. Permission slips and applications are attached to the flyer, and I would encourage you to all go for it. This isn't the kind of opportunity that comes around every day."

"This begins shooting next month." Gia said, noting the date on the flyer. "They're cutting it pretty close..."

"They're hoping for a quick shoot." Mr Kingston replied. "It's...kind of a topical film, so they're hoping to get it out before..."

"The director is Erin Dietrich; you've worked for her before haven't you?" Noah asked. Mr Kingston just looked at him. "Do you know what the movie is?"

He just sighed and looked to the class.

"Alright, no doubt it'll be leaked on the internet soon enough." He told them. "The movie they're shooting is a Power Rangers movie."

Everyone in the class screamed in delight.

"Hey, what do you know they're making a movie!" Jordan stated with a grin.

"We still don't get royalties." Noah reminded him.

"Sure, but it still rocks!" Jordan answered. "Hey, this is probably the only chance we'll get to be in a Ranger movie."

"Alright, now let's get on with the rest of the lesson." Mr Kingston told them. "And since we have three of the four candidates for the election here, how about we gear our exercises around the drama of politics shall we?"

With that, the class started moving their chairs aside. Jordan just looked to the others.

"Mr Kingston doesn't believe in sitting around reading about drama." Jake explained. "Now you know why we all consider this class fun."

Meanwhile, on Earth's moon, Vrak followed a reluctant Squat, Babboo and Finster. They all knew he was unhappy about the merchandise they had sold him, unhappy enough that he had threatened to destroy all of them if they didn't lead them to their store.

Times hadn't been good for the trio since the United Alliance of Evil had been defeated. When the Z-wave had swept across the solar system, eliminating all the evil forces, they hadn't been touched. It had, however, left them out in the cold so to speak. With Astronama, Rita and Zedd turned back to humans, and pretty much everyone else they knew turned to sand, they were left with no one to go to for shelter, no employers...no one to protect them from the ravages of the universe!

With no other ideas, they had headed back to Zedd's old fortress. It had taken them many years; they had been stationed on Aquitar during the attacks. It was only through guile, cunning and more than a little luck that they had managed to barter, con and joy-ride their way back to Earth's moon, only to find it already a battle ground as several Red Rangers and the remains of the Machine Empire battled over Serpentera. They had managed to hide and stay out of it, but in the heat of the battle, the fortress was all but destroyed. The Red Ranger alliance had stuck around to give the wreckage a cursory glance to make sure no one remained, but had left shortly afterwards. Babboo had come up with the idea that they would likely never be back, since they now believed no one lived there.

With all the time they had spent there, soon provisions were becoming a problem, until Squat had stumbled on Lord Zedd's old vault. It turned out that he had buried a lot more there than just Serpentera, a lot that it seemed the Rangers had never found. Occasionally taking trips to various taverns and trading posts, they traded Lord Zedd's trinkets for items of value and provisions. They were always careful not to sell enough to arouse suspicion from the Rangers, but it had provided them with the means to get by all this time.

As they got to the vault, Finster gestured to the door.

"It's all in here." Finster told him. "All of Lord Zedd's artefacts, and items we traded them for. I got those data cards from a reliable source..."

"Don't worry about the data cards, I already have ideas for them." Vrak assured him. "For now, open that door and let me have a look for appropriate compensation."

Finster just sighed and performed the rite that opened the door. While he wasn't as skilled in the ways of magic as his former masters, he did have the ability to perform some basic rites. It was more than enough to find the way to open Lord Zedd's vault. As the doors opened, Vrak stepped inside and looked around, dragging Finster with him for insurance. He knew it would be all too easy for him to seal the door behind him and leave him to rot.

"It's all here." Finster told him. "Take anything you want, just please..."

Vrak silenced him with a glare as he came to something of interest. It carried a glyph on it that Vrak recognised as being the personal glyph of his Royal Family. He dragged Finster closer, inspecting it thoughtfully. His anger flared as he confirmed what it was.

"The Aurora Box!" He growled, snatching Finster around in front of him and lifting him off the ground. "You stole this!"

"I didn't..."

"LIAR!" He yelled angrily. "It went missing from the palace, MY palace years ago!"

"I swear, I traded it from another fence!" Finster protested. "I could sense it was magical, but I've been unable to do anything with it!"

"Of course you haven't! You couldn't possibly fathom the power this possesses!" Vrak told him abruptly. He snatched the Aurora Box and looked to Finster angrily. "I'll take it...all of it!"

"All of it?" Babboo shrieked. "But...but what about us?"

"Yeah, we have to eat you know!" Squat added.

"That really isn't my problem." Vrak told them. "Now, start loading up the ship, unless you want me to show you what this can do."

Finster, Babboo and Squat all looked to each other in terror, before starting the long and laborious task of gathering Lord Zedd's remaining treasures and taking them to Vrak's ship.

Back on Earth, it was lunch time, and Jake was in the canteen, playing with his dinner as Jordan came over. He sat with Jake, his plate loaded up with spaghetti bolognaise.

"Carbo loading for soccer practice?" Jake asked him. Jordan nodded his head as he started to shovel away pasta.

"Where are the others?" Jordan mumbled through his mouthful of pasta, reaching for some garlic bread.

"Emma and Gia are in the library working on campaigning." Jake sighed. "Noah's doing something with Quinn, and Troy...he said something about checking out that gym Principal Kwann set up in the basement for us."

"So...why aren't you campaigning?" Jordan asked him.

"For the thousandth time, I don't even WANT to be president!" Jake told him. "I'm being railroaded into this, and because of that, some kid who actually DOES want it isn't in the race!"

"So are you just going to sit around and bitch about it?" Jordan asked him.

"I don't see what else I can do about it." Jake grumbled. "I can't pull out; it's against the rules or something."

"If you really don't want to be president, you could always throw the race." Jordan suggested. "Tell everyone to vote for Emma, or...make up some ridiculous policies that no one would ever vote for."

"And you think anyone would listen?" Jake asked him. "The coach just expects me to keep the money rolling into the athletics department. The kids all expect me to put on a kick ass prom...other than that, no one thinks I'll do anything."

"That doesn't explain..."

"Hey, Duncan!" Jake called over to another table. "I'm thinking of passing a uniform policy if I get elected, all guys have to wear pink tutus."

"Whatever dude." The other student laughed, waving it off. He then looked to another table.

"Hey Tiffany!" He called over. "I was thinking, if I get elected, we could always just skip Prom and use the money to buy books for the library."

"Yeah right, good one Hollings." She giggled, turning back to her lunch. Jordan just let out a low whistle.

"Man, you really have a rep around here don't you?" He commented.

"That's just it, kids have already told me they'll vote for me, and none of them know what I plan to do!" Jake told him.

"So what do you plan to do?" Jordan asked with a shrug.

"Good question." Jake grumbled. "Emma's the one with all the ideas. She's the one that's out there campaigning in her lunch hour. She deserves it more than I do."

"Yeah, Emma definitely wants to change the world." Jordan chuckled. "Maybe she dreamed of some magical world where everyone dances around hand in hand..."

"Dude, would you lay off that?" Jake asked him. "Maybe you're cynical enough not to believe in the power of dreams, but some people are. Sure, Emma may be more of a dreamer than most, but some of us find dreams pretty important."

"Whatever." Jordan answered in an off-hand way. "I just think Emma's a little too lost in dreams and a little unrealistic at times. Like...look over there." He stated, gesturing over to the corner table, where Allison was being served her meal. Jake just looked to him.

"What about it?" Jake asked.

"Well, Emma's always talking about how much she hates that people get preferential treatment." Jordan told him. "It's always happened and it's always going to happen. Some people just get preferential treatment."

"You're not very observant are you?" Jake asked him. "Didn't you notice her at the field trip to the museum?"

"Uh...not really." Jordan answered. "I was too busy making notes..."

"She doesn't get served at the table because of some preferential treatment." Jake told him.

"Yeah, because all of us..."

"Have you noticed how narrow the corridor is because of that guard rail?" Jake asked him. "Allison's paraplegic! She can't fit her wheelchair down that corridor, so they have to serve her at her table."

"Really?" Jordan asked, checking over to the table again. Allison was around the opposite side, hiding in the corner as she usually did.

"That's why she got that new spot near the entrance that Emma was going on about; it's a disabled parking spot." Jake told him. "Of course, no one else seems to notice stuff like that because it doesn't apply to them."

"You know what you sound like?" Jordan asked him.

"What?" Jake asked. Jordan just smiled.

"You sound like someone who just found a policy." He answered. Jake thought about it for a moment. Although he didn't doubt that he would be pressured into doing something for the coach, and for the prom, he hadn't actually thought about anything he might actually want to do in office. He had only just started to notice little things about the school since he found out about Allison that made him thing about the challenges she might face, little things that he took for granted.

"But...will anyone listen to me?" Jake asked. "You know my rep..."

"Hey, do you think any politician got into office by emphasising all their policies?" Jordan asked him. "Of course not, they start off with talking about lower taxes and better benefits and all that crap. You tell people everything they want to hear, THEN start on your actual policies."

"That doesn't sound very honest..."

"Hey, it's politics. When did honesty EVER play a part in that?" Jordan asked him. Jake thought about it for a second, before patting Jordan on the shoulder.

"Congratulations, you just became my campaign manager." Jake told him.

"Um...I don't remember agreeing..."

"It sucks when that happens to you doesn't it?" Jake asked him, giving him a wink. "I'll expect the first ideas for my campaign tomorrow."

"Wow, you might just make a politician yet." Jordan stated as they went back to their meal.

Meanwhile, in the library, Emma and Gia were comparing notes when Troy walked in.

"You guys have to see the gym Principal Kwann set up for us." Troy told them. "It is completely amazing!"

"Maybe later, we're still working on my campaign." Emma told him. "I've already hit up the drama club, the science club and the environmental club to try and convince them I'll get them all a fair share of the budget."

"Sounds like you've been busy." Troy commented as he sat down.

"Tell me about it, my two opponents are not going to be a pushover." Emma told him. "Mike, he's already starting to throw around money and promises like it's going out of fashion, and Jules...she's got her own support."

"She's rallying a lot of support from the usual trend setters." Gia told him. "I so hope she goes down, do you know what one of her manifesto points...?"

"Wait...I thought you had three opponents?" Troy pointed out. "What about Jake?" The two girls looked to each other and started laughing.

"Yeah, because Jake's really such a threat." Gia chuckled. "He's already told us he doesn't want to run, the only reason he hasn't backed out already is because he can't. He'll probably spend the whole time begging everyone NOT to vote for him."

"Here, why don't I show you some of the ideas I had." Emma said, sliding across some of the papers they were working on. "Gia's already agreed to help with my campaign."

"Well, if you're looking for someone else to help, you know where to ask." Troy replied, leaning over and kissing Emma's cheek. Gia just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, great idea Emma, this will REALLY help me keep my mind off the fact my girlfriends' on the other side of the state." Gia grumbled. "Can we just concentrate on this please?"

"OK, here's what I was thinking." Emma said as she picked up the first sheet, handing it to her boyfriend.


	3. The Campaign Heats Up

As Emma and Gia got to the school on Wednesday, they were still discussing ideas for Emma's campaign. Emma was smiling as they discussed their ideas. Gia had agreed to act as kind of a campaign manager for Emma, taking some of the pressure off Emma and allowing her mostly to just concentrate on her policies and preparing for any questions that were likely to come.

"Alright, so we've already got the usual branches of advertising." Gia reminded her. "The school paper and the school TV and radio stations have to give all four of the candidates equal exposure, so we know that we can expect them to approach you soon for your advertising. We just need more ways to get your message out there, things the other candidates don't have yet."

"Well, I'm not planning on buying any votes." Emma assured her. "I have a feeling Mike's probably going to be all over that approach. Besides, as much as I love dad, his allowance doesn't really cover political bribes."

"Wow, two days in politics and already you're figuring out the dirty tactics." Gia teased her. Emma just glared at her. "OK, so...the most obvious form of advertising always has been buttons and posters..."

"But since one of my main platforms is an environmental stand, the last thing I want is to go wasting an entire rainforest's worth of paper." Emma reminded her. "So, what's this idea you had?"

"I talked to Noah, and he set this up." Gia informed her, opening up her tablet and showing her an image. Emma smiled.

"The Harwood Social Hub?" Emma asked.

"Although you've assured Jake you'll get the board to vote to have it approved as an official school site, it isn't considered official school correspondence yet, so we can publish all the campaign material on that we want." Gia told her with a proud smile. "It's skirting the rules slightly, but since every kid in school has a profile which is linked to their facebook, twitter or e-mail address, sometimes all three..."

"Our campaign will get to every kid in school." Emma replied happily.

"Better yet, since we're not limited by the size of a flyer, I've linked your whole manifesto to the ad." Gia said, breathing on her fingernails and polishing them on her jacket. "OK, you can say it."

"You are amazing." Emma told her, putting her arm around her as they made their way across the courtyard.

"The only slight hitch to the Hub is that because Noah runs it, he kind of has to give Jake the same exposure." Gia reminded her. "I didn't make a big deal of it, they are best friends, I couldn't ask him not to..."

"Yeah, that's fine. It is only fair." Emma agreed. "I'm sure Mike and Jules will catch on to the Hub later on anyway. In the meantime, we can take advantage of..."

Her words tailed off a little as they got inside, looking around. There was a huge crowd, backed right out of the door of the canteen. Emma just looked to Gia.

"What...what's going on there?" She asked. Gia just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I've never seen this many kids at school so early." She answered. As they headed in, pushing their way through the crowd, they eventually found Jake standing on a table, addressing the crowd. He was dressed in a black shirt, and clean, pressed pants. The crowd seemed to be there to see him.

"I intend for this senior year to be the best ever!" Jake declared, shaking some hands as kids crowded around him. "Check out my manifesto, which is going to be distributed by the Harwood Social Hub. Remember, Hollings for President!"

As they cheered, he noticed Emma and Gia arriving. He leapt off the table and headed towards them, smiling.

"Hey guys, I just..."

"Jake? What...what is all this?" Gia asked him.

"It was Jordan's idea." He replied. "I kind of press-ganged him into being my campaign manager. He's got Noah working on something with the Hub to get the word out there, but since it's me that people know and will vote for...he just advised me to get my face out there and..."

"I think what Gia means is...since when did you care about any of this stuff?" Emma asked him. "Yesterday, you didn't even want to run."

"Well...I guess I just thought about it a little." Jake told her. "I reckon it could be cool, you know, to get my voice heard and be part of the committee."

"Well...that's...great." Emma replied, forcing a smile. She didn't want to say anything out loud and hurt Jake's feelings, but the one thing that had been a relief to her was that Jake hadn't really shown an interest in running. He was a popular student, more popular with more of the students than she was at very least. The fact was, as much as she believed in her policies, she knew that popularity was a big factor in the class presidential elections.

Kids were notoriously short-sighted, meaning that in a lot of instances, they didn't really listen much to the policies. After all, they would only have to put up with a President for one year, and most accomplished nothing of note anyway. It wasn't like they had the responsibility of having their finger on the red button to a nuclear arsenal, at worst a President usually just proposed an idea for a prom that sucked and ended up getting vetoed by the rest of the committee anyway. For that reason, they often just voted for someone popular or cool to be their president. She hated to admit it, but Jake would have a lot of support based solely on his reputation as the class clown.

"Well...I wasn't too sure before, but now...I think it might be a good thing." Jake told them. "And you said yourself, this is all cool right? It's just friendly competition."

"Yeah, I guess so." Emma replied. "So for now...good luck on the race."

"Thanks, you too." Jake answered as he shook Emma's hand.

Back on the Warstar ship, Vrak returned to his lab with the Aurora Box in his hands. Setting it down, he began studying it. He didn't even notice that Malkor was in the corner, waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" Malkor asked him. "You promised..."

"You will not regret the delay I assure you my lord." Vrak told him. "The trader I've been dealing with sold me some defective merchandise, and in chasing up compensation, I found something...unexpected."

"It's a box." Malkor replied in a derisive snort. He saw the glyph etched into the top of it. "Isn't that...?"

"It is my family's Royal Glyph." Vrak informed him. "This artefact is called the Aurora Box. It is a powerful magical artefact that used to belong to my family."

"Used to?" Malkor asked him.

"It was stolen from us many years ago." Vrak told him. "My family lost our magical prowess once it was stolen. Legend has it that it possesses the power to magnify the power of any creature a hundred fold."

"Interesting." Malkor mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "How long do you think it will take you to figure out how it works?"

"It's hard to say. My previous work with Lord Zedd's artefacts should help." He said, trying to be as unspecific as possible. "Perhaps by the end of the week?"

"Well, how about we use one of those mutants to test it on before we risk anyone important?" Malkor suggested. "Let me know when you've found someone and got a working test subject ready to release on the Rangers."

"I will do so my lord." Vrak answered as Malkor left his lab. He smiled as he looked to the Aurora Box.

"Of course, in the meantime, that doesn't mean to say I can't figure out what else it can do." Vrak replied with a smile. "The game has finally changed in my favour."

Back on Earth, the soccer team was out on the field practicing. The goalie dove for a strike, missing it by a significant margin as Jake celebrated his strike. Jordan ran over to join him.

"Dude, that cross was just perfect!" Jake complimented him. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, our first game's against Silver Hills right?" He asked. "Well, I was going over a lot of their old tapes, and I noticed that they really concentrate up the front end of the field. There's a huge area just between their midfield. If an attacking midfielder like yours truly can sprint into there and catch a high pass, then he'd have all the time in the world to set up a striker."

"Dude, that play is just sick!" Jake complimented him, slapping him on the back. Jordan just smiled.

"Trust me; I have a whole bunch more in my notebook." He told him. "I've already got a ton to show coach when he's making his decision."

"Hey Hollings!" The coach called over. Jake looked around, seeing him waving him over. Jordan just gestured that it was alright to go, before heading back to his team mates to discuss another strategy. Jake headed over to the coach, looking to the team.

"Can I help you with something?" Jake asked.

"I saw you in the cafeteria earlier." He told Jake. "You really had all those kids eating out the palm of your hand!"

"Yeah, they were cheering pretty loud." Jake agreed. "And once they check out my manifesto..."

"Manifesto?" The coach chuckled. "Jake, what manifesto?"

"You know...telling the kids what I want to do?" He responded. "If they don't know what I stand for..."

"Who the hell cares Hollings? It's not like you'll be the actual president or anything." He laughed. "All you need to do is make sure the money keeps rolling into sports and everything will be just fine."

"With all due respect, the sports department gets plenty of money." Jake told him. "But I did think..."

"Look, I know you're probably all excited and thinking you'll change the world, but seriously, it's just a high school election." He told him. "But maybe I can sweeten the pot a little...make it worth your while."

"I don't think I understand..."

"I need a real leader for team captain." He told him. "Someone that can really unite the team, get everyone all going the same way."

"Yeah, that's why you're making us come up with plays and..."

He produced the captain's armband, showing it to Jake with a smile.

"You've already got a good chance of a soccer scholarship Hollings. What do you think it would do to your chances if you could add Senior Class President and team captain to your resume?" He suggested. Jake never claimed to be the smartest person on the face of the Earth, but he could take a hint. "I've already got a lot of kids ready to vote for you. Just win this election and make sure the money keeps coming in for the Athletics Department, and I'll take your obvious leadership skills into account when I make my decision."

"Wait...you mean..." Jake started to stammer out. He drew in closer. "What about what you told the others?"

"Like I said, I'll take everything into account when I make my decision." He answered, dangling the armband in front of Jake. "Think about it Hollings."

Jake just stood, staring into space as the coach left him.

"Alright team, everyone run laps! I want at least twenty laps from all of you before shower time or I won't turn on the hot water!" He called out. "Move it!"

Jake just shook his head and went back to running his laps.

Later, just as the school was breaking up for the day, Jake and Jordan were met by Emma, Gia and Troy. They started heading towards the Brainfreeze.

"Is this a new look?" Gia asked, chuckling as she saw Jake and Jordan. Jake just muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" Emma asked him.

"He said coach sucks." Jordan replied. "The reason we look the way we do is because he didn't turn on the hot water, so neither of us really felt like having a long shower."

"He didn't turn on the hot water?" Emma asked. "Why?"

"Damn Phillips only managed nineteen laps before the end of practice." Jake muttered.

"Well...it's an interesting look anyway." Gia giggled. "Say, is Noah coming?"

"He and Quinn had some work to do at the Wildlife Park." Jake informed them. "So, how is the campaign going?"

"Well, apparently Mike has set up a stand handing out coffee and bear claws just outside the school grounds." Gia answered, rolling her eyes. "Since he's not doing anything on school property, technically he's not breaking any rules."

"And Jules is really pushing the easy policies." Gia told her bad-temperedly.

"What's with Gia and Jules?" Jordan asked.

"One of Jules' policies." Emma told them. "She's campaigning to have the school computers extend some of the disallowed websites to include sites with 'gay propaganda'."

"Really?" Troy asked.

"Maybe she should talk to Putin." Jordan chuckled in response. "They'd probably get along."

"This is serious Jordan; even sites that have links to that kind of stuff would be disallowed if she gets her way." Emma told him. "Like the Social Hub? Either Noah would have to delete all the links to the Flagship or the Hub would be blocked too."

"That sucks!" Jake grumbled. "I mean, there are kids that get a lot out of being able to talk about that kind of stuff. What does she think banning it will accomplish?"

"Maybe she's one of those idiots that thinks if people aren't allowed to talk about being gay, they'll all magically decide 'well, I guess I better be straight'." Gia told him. "I guess she didn't get the memo that we're even allowed to get married in this state now."

"Well, there'll be no worries if I get elected." Jake assured them. "I won't be censoring any websites."

"Neither will I." Emma assured them. "So Jake, how are you finding the campaign trail now you're taking it seriously?"

"Tiring." He responded. "I mean seriously, I've been at it one day and already people are trying to change me."

"Well...no one's really trying to change me." Emma answered. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know...I guess people think it'll be easy to get me to say whatever they want me to say." Jake replied. "It kind of bums me out."

"Well, it's not like you wanted this in the first place." Gia reminded him. "Don't let it get to you. If you don't want to change, then don't."

"Yeah, and like Gia said, it's not like you really wanted to do anything anyway." Emma replied.

"Wait...what's that supposed to mean?" Jake asked her, looking a little offended. Emma just stopped.

"Well, you know...you said it yourself, you don't want anything to do with this." Emma said, realising that she had said something that had gotten to him. "I mean, you're a great guy, and you're a lot of fun, but when it comes to politics..."

"That's it isn't it? I'm just a joke right?" He demanded. "I'm just the class clown that's good for giving everyone a laugh and goofing around, so of course I can't possibly figure out that there's stuff wrong with this place that needs to change!"

"Jake, I never said..."

"You didn't have to!" He snapped at her. Troy stepped between them.

"Jake, settle down, let's just talk about this." Troy told him. "We're all friends..."

"Yeah, we're all friends because Emma didn't take me seriously." Jake answered. "I saw the way you looked at me when I was announced. You didn't mind because you thought I wasn't a threat to you!"

"Jake..."

"You know what? If you think I'm a joke, just keep thinking that." He interrupted her. "I guess we'll see who's laughing when the polls close. Let the best man win!"

As he stormed away, Emma just looked to Gia sadly.

"I didn't say..."

"Don't worry about it; he probably just needs to walk it off." She replied. "Come on, we'll talk about some more ideas."

As he headed home, Jake was still fuming, but he felt badly about his blow up at Emma. He never wanted the race to come between him and his friend, but he was just getting sick of everyone treating him like a joke. After his talk with the coach, he realised that a lot of people just saw him as someone that they could manipulate, that he would just do and say what they wanted if they dangled a few promises in front of him. The only reason he hadn't told Jordan about the coach implying he'd get the captain's armband if he won the election was because he still couldn't get over the fact his own coach didn't respect him.

He hailed a cab, getting into the back and giving him the address, before pulling out his laptop and checking over his manifesto once more. He had no interest in the race before, but now, now he was determined to show everyone what he was really made of.


	4. Mudslinging

By the time Friday rolled around, the atmosphere in the Senior class was starting to get a little more fraught. The elections rarely caused any real controversy, or interest if anyone was brutally honest, but since his blow up at Emma outside the school, there was a little bit of a buzz surrounding the whole deal now. Everyone knew that they were friends, and that they hung out all the time, but when they came back to school on the Thursday, they went the whole day without talking. Emma tried to approach Jake at lunch, but he fobbed her off, saying he had something to ask Principal Kwann, and left.

The elections traditionally took place across the second and third week at Harwood, meaning that it would be the following Friday before it was all over. There was generally a debate at the beginning of the second campaigning week, and on the Thursday before the vote so that the candidates could take one last opportunity to score some votes. The first week was traditionally taken up by the candidates drumming up support, going around talking to students, putting up flyers, handing out buttons, and even taking time on the school TV station and radio station.

As Gia came in, holding a large coffee and a bear claw, she found Emma staring at a computer screen, looking more than a little weary. She sat down, placing a hand on her shoulders and stroking them gently.

"Jake still not talking to you?" She asked.

"Talking, tweeting, e-mail...hell, I'd take smoke signals at this point." Emma replied. "That's not what I'm looking at though."

"Then what is it?" Gia asked. Emma turned the computer towards her, showing her the screen. This year, there was a brand new weapon in the arsenal of the candidates. With Noah setting up the Harwood Social Hub during the latter half of his junior year, it simply wasn't available. Now though, there was a website that was accessed regularly by around 99 percent of the student body. Almost every kid in school had a profile, Noah had hoped to have all of them, but there were still some stragglers.

The other thing about the site that Gia and Jordan had picked up on early was that because it wasn't considered an official school correspondence, it wasn't governed by the same rules restricting access and representation. Noah had only made the proviso that he would give equal exposure to both Emma and Jake, since he really didn't want to take sides while they were arguing, but with the Hub, they had essentially unrestricted and unlimited cheap advertising for their campaigns. Noah had also added one little thing, seemingly just for his own interest, it was a poll tracker. Completely anonymously, kids would answer the poll question as to who they supported, and a graph outlined the current trends.

"Jules is not going to be happy." Gia replied, pointing to her bar on the graph. "Six per cent?"

"She's really pushing the religious right standpoint." Emma reminded her, looking a little weary. "If we lived in Texas, I'd probably be in trouble, but in California...she's kind of isolated a lot of the voters."

"Well, you're doing really well." Gia told her. "Look, you have 33 percent approval rating! Actual presidents have had lower approval ratings..."

"Jake has 38." Emma replied. Gia just sighed and looked to her. She had seen the result, and knew that was what Emma had to be thinking about. So far, Mike had a 23 percent following, placing him in third place, and a fair bit behind Emma and Jake, even with the bribes he was handing out outside the school gate. Jake, so far, was ahead, but the margin was close.

"These are just preliminary polls, there's time to make up the gap." Gia assured her.

"It's not just that." She told her. "I really don't want this to come between us. The way he's acting...I think he's really been hurt by this."

"Emma, he's the one that's taking this personally." Gia reminded her. "Look, I know it's upsetting you that you're not speaking, but surely you can't believe that...I've gone over your manifesto with you a hundred times, a lot of what you say is really important. The kids..."

"You said it yourself Gia, these are just preliminary polls." Emma responded, closing over her laptop. "Hell, you know how fickle these kids are, these results could completely change by next week."

"Somehow I doubt you've got too much to worry about from Jules." Gia chuckled. Emma just glared at her. "OK, I know what you mean. Look, Jake's sore now, but I'm sure it'll blow over."

"I really hope so." Emma stated. "I really want this, but nothing's worth losing friends over."

It was only then she noticed the coffee and the bear claw.

"Did...did you actually stop at Mike's cart?" Emma asked her. "Gia, you're my campaign manager!"

"I'm also a caffeine addict." She reminded her with a shrug. "If Mike's stupid enough to pay someone to hand out free coffee and pastries without checking out who they are, why should I pass that up?"

Emma just looked at her. Gia slid the pastry closer.

"Would you like a bear claw?" Gia asked sheepishly. Emma just shook her head, laughing in defeat, and took it.

On the Warstar Ship, Vrak was continuing his studies of the Aurora Box, the artefact that was the secret to his family's dominance for centuries before it was stolen. The power housed within was his birthright, and he was hoping that when all was said and done, it would be the key to his overall victory.

The box was glowing as he chanted over it. He smiled as he saw the data cards he had laid over it, no longer scorched and damaged. He picked them up and inspected them.

"Now, this is promising." He stated, before putting them away safely in his personal vault. "These will be very handy later, in the meantime, I suppose I just need to see if this box has the power I believe."

In another area of the school, Jake was sitting in the library, while looking over some reports he had gotten from Principal Kwann. He had banked on not only the fact that he now knew her to be a former Ranger, but also her past involvement in student politics. She had told them of her time in Switzerland and the peace conference. When Jake went into the office to ask for reports, telling her it was for his campaign, she seemed genuinely impressed at the lengths he would go to in his research and agreed to allow him access.

He was just looking over the reports, jotting down notes on a pad, and tapping buttons on the calculator and just shook his head in disbelief. He was interrupted as a large hand appeared on the table next to him.

"Hollings, what are you doing?" The coach asked as he looked to him. "Have you seen the polls?"

"My best friend runs the site, so yeah, I kind of have." Jake responded.

"Don't be a smart-ass Hollings." He replied in a stern tone as he sat down. "You're only five percent ahead, and instead of campaigning, here you are pissing about with paper?"

"I'm doing research." Jake told him abruptly. "Now, if you don't mind..."

"Well, I do mind Hollings; we're expecting a result here!" The coach warned him. "Normally, there's nothing I can do to shut you up and stop you making a spectacle of yourself, if you blow this by being a wallflower now..."

"I'm campaigning!" Jake snapped in response. "I just want to get some facts straight for the debate! Jordan's dealing with the advertising and promotion."

"Just...remember what I said Hollings." The coach reminded him. "Think of those scholarship applications."

As he left, Jake was about to get back to work when Allison approached. He looked up, and looked around, wondering why she was there.

"You're the only one sitting here." She told him.

"Yeah, but...you made it pretty clear you didn't want..."

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?" She interrupted him. "I read your manifesto..."

"Allison, I was..."

"Do you really think that just because you're talking about stuff for disabled students that I'd change my mind?" She asked him. "Did you really think I want everyone paying attention to me? I don't WANT people staring; I don't WANT to be a charity case..."

"That's just it, this isn't about you!" Jake cut her off. "Look, I'll admit that I really didn't think about stuff like this before I found out about you, but this isn't just an attempt to impress you!"

"What are you...?"

"I got these reports from Principal Kwann this morning, there are more kids with disadvantages here than I ever realised." Jake told her, picking up some folders. "There's a kid in sophomore year with arthritis, three kids with eyesight problems...there's about a dozen kids with dyslexia...this school was built before a lot of these conditions were much of a consideration."

"Jake..."

"The school got some renovations done a few years back; just enough to barely make the legal requirements for a public school to be accessible, but it's not enough." Jake told her. "There are three floors in this place, but only one elevator. There's only one disabled bathroom, and it's on the ground floor."

Allison looked like she was about to say something, but found herself unable to answer. She knew all too well first-hand how challenging coming back to school had been.

"But...you're...you're...it's not a big deal..."

"Yes, it is." Jake told her. "Don't you think you should be able to go to the counter at the canteen like everyone else? Do you think I've not seen you still going to practice or watching the cheerleading squad, hiding away in the corner so that people don't see you?"

"Jake..."

"You have the right to be treated like everyone else." Jake told her. "And all I want is for everyone to be able to be a part of this school and not feel the need to be shoved in a corner and hidden."

He started to gather up the paperwork, getting ready to leave, but Allison grabbed his sleeve. She looked up at him.

"You...you're really serious about all of this aren't you?" She asked him. He just nodded.

"This isn't something I'm joking about." Jake told her. He shoved the work away in his bag, and left the library. Allison just watched him go, thinking that she had never seen this side of him before. There was a lot more to Jake than just the class clown.

At the end of the school day, Jake, Noah and Jordan were just heading out the front door, when they happened across Emma, Gia and Troy talking so some of the students, rallying support. Or, at least, they were trying to, Mike had his stands out as usual, but this time there was also a van next to it, playing loud music, and handing out flyers. Most of the kids were crowding around that van.

"It must be nice to have deep pockets for the campaign." Jordan sighed, looking to Jake. He just shrugged.

"If people vote for me, I want them to vote for my policies." He assured Jordan. "Now, we need to get going, my dad..."

"Jake, hold up!" Emma called over as she started to run over. "Um...can I talk to you for a minute?"

Over by the van, Mike saw the two of them together and gestured to the men in his van. They immediately got to work, starting to set up some equipment, one of them opening out a projection screen.

"It's a free country." Jake answered Emma, looking to her. She just seemed to squirm a little.

"Look, this has gotten really out of hand." Emma told him. "I really don't want us to fall out over this."

"Emma, this..."

He was interrupted as the music stopped, and they heard something else. Mike started up a projector, and started to show a promotional package on the screen by the van.

"Who do you want as your Senior Class President?" The promotional footage began, showing an image of Emma. "Emma Goodall is a student on the honour roll, with a keen interest in the environment, and promises to clean up the school."

Emma just watched as it started to show images of the riot by the chemical plant.

"However, what she doesn't tell you is that her environmental activism has made more than a few headlines for the wrong reasons." The voice-over continued, before showing a mug shot of Spider. "Indeed she even dated a known eco terrorist! Is this the kind of person you want to represent you?" It finished with a photograph of Emma with a large red X over it.

"And then, we have Jake Hollings, class clown and all around popular and lively student." The video package carried on, showing Jake at a soccer team party, leading a victory dance. "However, what he won't tell you is that he is also a volatile, temperamental and even violent man, who indeed has already got a record at juvenile hall!"

Jake looked horrified as they showed a picture of him that had been taken for ID purposes. He'd only been in Juvenile Hall for a couple of weeks over a year previously after a serious fight with another kid. It was something that he had, for the most part, kept from all but his closest friends. His record would be expunged when he turned 18, but that didn't mean it was something he liked to advertise. A large red X appeared across his photograph. "Do you really want a violent criminal to represent you?"

The Rangers all assembled around them as the video continued in similar fashion to sling mud at Jules.

"Dude, that is so not cool!" Noah yelled. "Can he...?"

"Nothing he's done is on school property or uses school communications." Gia reminded them. "It's dirty but..."

Jake just stormed off angrily as the video package finished with an image of all three of the other candidates X'd out, and Mike's picture beaming out with a smarmy grin, and the slogan to vote for the best.

"Let's get out of here." Emma grumbled, pulling Emma away. "We'll get him at the debate tomorrow."

Emma just nodded and left, realising the opportunity to talk to Jake was long gone. Even if she could catch up to him, she doubted he'd be in much of a mood to talk now. Grudgingly accepting that there was nothing they could do to counter this latest salvo in the political campaign, the others just turned and headed out for lunch.

In the woods, just outside of the city, Vrak was making his way through the undergrowth, carrying the Aurora Box, with Bluefur and Biggs in tow. He had told them all about its power, and assured them that it could be used to give them the power they needed to destroy the Rangers and take their planet for themselves. Of course, he knew that they would be sceptical, so he had convinced them to allow him to demonstrate. He had performed magical experiments on some of their subjects before without their knowledge, but this was the first time he would risk doing so in front of them. The bond the Mutants had with one another was strong, and he knew that it would be risky to harm one of their brothers. He needed to be confident in his fledgling abilities with magic, learned from Lord Zedd's codex before he would risk it.

They found a large, tape-work like creature, finishing its latest meal, an unfortunate group of campers that hadn't managed to flee in time. He was just finishing draining the blood from the family dog, before tossing its lifeless carcass aside.

"You always finish with the pets." Bluefur commented.

"They make a fine desert." He responded in a thick accent, with a huge smile. "If I'd known I was expecting company, I'd have saved you some..."

"It's quite alright." Vrak replied, waving him off. He looked to the creature thoughtfully. "How would you like to serve your kind by destroying the Rangers?"

"Right, I'll get right on that." He chortled as he started looking through the family's meagre possessions for anything of value. "Maybe I'll become a vegetarian while I'm at it."

"Well, I could give you something far more satisfying than simply blood to feed on." Vrak suggested. The creature just looked to Bluefur and Biggs, before looking back to him in disbelief.

"You're kidding right?" He asked. "You do get that I'm a..."

"Are you saying that you wouldn't do one simple little thing for the power to serve your master?" Vrak asked him. He looked to Bluefur, who tightened his grip on his mace.

"Don't worry; if he tries anything, I have this." Bluefur told him. Vrak just shrugged.

"So there you go, if it works, then you'll have your powers increased to unbelievable levels." He told him. "If not, then your master here bludgeons me into a fine paste and no doubt you can feast on that. I can't say farer than that can I?"

The creature looked a little sceptical, but seeing his master, he just nodded and stood ready. Vrak cast a small incantation, before a beam of energy shot out of the box bathing him in a bright light. When it dissipated, the creature was wearing a golden belt bearing Vrak's personal glyph, and carrying a fork.

"So?" Bluefur asked. "How do you feel?"

"I feel...I feel..." He turned around, and kicked a rock that looked like it had to weigh hundreds of pounds. It flew high into the air, before coming down into the lake several feet from the shore. "I feel more powerful than ever!"

"So, what's with the fork?" Biggs asked.

"Oh, he'll need that for his new diet." Vrak explained. "Blood will no longer sustain him. Instead, he will feast on what drives humans, he will eat the very substance of their hope, and in doing so will leave nothing but despair."

"I won't eat blood?" The creature asked. "Then what will I eat?"

"You'll be eating their dreams." Vrak answered with a smile.


	5. Dream Snatcher

As Saturday began, the Rangers, with the exception of Noah, all made their way to the hills overlooking Harwood County. The meteor shower had been forecast for a while, and all of them were eager to see it for one reason or another. As Jake and Jordan arrived, they found Emma, Gia and Troy already there. Troy, who was really only there for Emma's sake, was running through some kata a little way off, while Emma was setting up her camera, calibrating it for the best shots she could.

"Hey." Jake greeted them. He didn't seem particularly enthusiastic, but given what had happened the day before, they really couldn't blame him. He didn't advertise the fact he had been to Juvie, mainly because it was something he was ashamed of, and he took it as a turning point in his life, when he decided not to let his temper rule his decisions. Noah knew about it by virtue of being his best friend, and he had told Jordan about it a while back when he was being overly brutal in bringing back the fugitives from the break out at the juvenile hall unit Spider had been locked up in to show him that not everyone was there because they were a bad person. To everyone else though, he had been attending a soccer camp in another state that summer.

Emma, Gia and Troy didn't know about his record, but they had all known Jake long enough to know what kind of guy he was. Although they were curious as to exactly why he had spent time locked up, they knew he was a good person, and they were sure that he would tell them in good time if he felt comfortable to do so.

"Hey." Emma replied, looking to him. "How are you holding up?"

"I've gotten my share of hate mail in the past." He responded with a shrug. Emma just sighed.

"You know, you can talk about it." She told him. "I mean...I get it. You're not the only one who had their dirty linen aired in public."

"It's fine Emma, really. I just..." He looked to her and realised that she was only trying to help. He didn't like the fact that the one time he was trying to do something serious for the school, the first time he actually cared about what was going on, someone had seen fit to use his past against him. He had worked hard to try and get people to see him differently, to see him as someone they could put their trust in. He just looked to Emma. "Can we just not talk about politics, just for today?"

"I think that would be a good idea." Gia responded, even though she was checking her phone for the latest opinion poll results from the Hub. As she had expected, Mike's little show had changed up the results quite a bit. Jules' support had gone from 6 percent to just 2, meaning that it looked like only two or three students actually intended to vote for her. Emma's support had slipped to 29 percent, and Jake's had slipped to just 27. The remaining 42 percent, almost half of the senior year, was now supporting Mike. It was a dirty trick he had pulled, and one that Gia was sure would get him reprimanded, but the damage had already been done. With only a week left to sway the vote, it would be a tall order for anyone to turn things around. "So, what do you think Emma?"

"I think this would be a great spot. It's got a perfect view." She said with a smile, lining up her camera to the spot the astronomical reports had predicted the majority of the meteorites would shoot through and finding it had a perfect view. "I should be able to get some great shots from here."

"Well, Noah just wanted us to check with you that was the case." Jordan told her. "For some reason he didn't want us touching his stuff."

"Maybe because he was overwhelmed with how careful you are with other people's property." Gia laughed in response. "You aren't exactly known for having a gentle touch."

"I guess that's true." He replied with a shrug. He knew that he had something of a well-earned reputation. While he was getting better, he did have a bit of a habit of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

"Say, where is Noah anyway?" Gia asked them. "Does he have a shift at the wildlife centre?"

"No, he said he and Tensou were working on something." Jake replied. "So, we're coming back here tonight?"

"Yeah, I should be able to get some great shots from here." Emma said with a smile. "Dad always told me that when I see a shooting star, I should make a wish. But any time I saw some, I was always so excited, I'd forget to make my wishes, so this time...I've got them written down."

She unfurled a long slip of paper, causing all the guys to just stare. Jordan started chuckling.

"Wow Emma, that's a lot of wishes." He sniggered. "You do know wishes are just like dreams though. They aren't made of anything..."

"Dude, seriously?" Jake asked him. "We've already agreed not to talk about politics."

"I'm just saying..."

"Yeah, we all know what you're just saying." Emma reminded him. "Jordan, it's clear we don't have the same opinion on this, but you've got the right to your opinion, and I've got the right to mine. Let's just leave it at that."

"And let's add our opinion on making wishes and dreams to the list of banned topics for today." Gia added. Jordan saw the others staring at him and just threw up his hands in defeat. How did he get to be the bad guy?

"Fine, no problem." He told them as Emma satisfied herself that this was the spot and started to pack up her equipment with Gia's help. "So, are we all going for some fro yo?"

"How about a race to Ernie's?" Jake suggested. "Last one there pays!"

"You're on!" Jordan replied with a smile. "I hope everyone's got plenty of cash, 'cause I've got a sweet tooth!"

As Troy, Jake and Jordan ran off, Gia just shook her head in disbelief. She looked to Emma.

"Will they ever learn?" She asked in a small laugh as she took one of Emma's bags. Emma and Gia just started off on one of the other trails. "So, how long is that path they've taken?"

"Let's just say we'll have time for a soda before they get there." Emma answered as they headed down a set of stairs.

Elsewhere in the city, the newly-named Dream Snatcher was just getting used to his new ability and diet. He had been used to feeding on blood for most of his life, but with Vrak's spell, he now had to feed on dreams.

The first couple of times were a little chaotic, since he didn't really get how he was meant to feed on someone's dreams exactly, but he had since figured it out. He had already found that with the power came a new appetite, and eating dreams was actually quite satisfying. So far, he had already feasted on someone who dreamed of owning his own software company, a girl who was staring longingly in a travel agent's window at a poster of Paris, and even a guy who was training for a marathon. As he got to the city, he set his sights on a guy who was busking on the streets. He had to admit that the music was kind of good...and if the sign was anything to go by, the guy was busking for the money to take a trip to Los Angeles, likely to try and sore a deal. He could almost smell the hope of his dreams by now.

As he finished a song, Dream Snatcher leapt into view, causing the people to scream and run. The busker wasn't quick enough though, tripping over his guitar case.

"Please, don't hurt me!" He screamed. Dream Snatcher just jabbed him with his fork weapon, causing the busker to scream out in agony, before pulling it out again. As the busker fell to the ground, the fork was glowing with energy. Dream Snatcher swallowed the power, bolstering his own power.

"Now...you had some really big dreams." He hulked, looking to the busker. He looked on curiously as roots grew out from under him, sinking into the ground. He hadn't stuck around after feeding on his first few victims, so he hadn't actually seen what happened to them afterwards. As far as he knew, they just fell asleep, and would remain that way forever.

"What are these roots?" He asked. Just then, he saw that the nearby mall was open and shrugged. "Maybe I'll figure it out after I have lunch."

In the Command Centre meanwhile, Noah was working hard in the lab on a computer. The mutated Spider was still floating in an isolation tank. Tensou brought some sandwiches into the room, placing them on the worktop.

"I don't understand, what are you doing?" Tensou asked. "I've been working on..."

"This may be one time the human habit of sleeping is actually beneficial." Noah told him with a smile. "The other night, after I fell asleep working on the Social Hub...I started dreaming..."

"I believe humans do that sometimes." Tensou interrupted him. "What did you dream about? That girl you've been seeing, Quinn?"

Noah started to blush a little as he heard Tensou say that.

"Um...well...one of the things I dreamed about was a possible solution to one of our problems." Noah told him. "I mean...I've been working flat out for so long, my head is all over the place. Between Spider and the Rangers stuff, my shifts at the Wildlife Centre, Quinn, school...not to mention making adverts for both Jake AND Emma...I just kind of conked out...and my mind completely cleared."

"Kind of like when I reset my hard drive?" Tensou asked.

"A little, yeah." Noah stated. "The thing is, I've not been sleeping too well recently. Even when I did sleep, it wasn't restful. I guess my body just kind of shut itself down because I was still sitting at my desk. The thing is, with my mind clear, I came up with something."

Tensou looked at his work and started to spin around.

"Noah...that...that's amazing!" He screeched out. "You came up with that while you were sleeping?"

"I did." He replied with a smile. "It's still not finished yet, so I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but..."

He went over to the tank with Spider in it and smiled.

"I think we're close." He told him. "This could be the end of a serious problem for us."

At the Edwards house, General Edwards was in his study, looking out for new signs of a disturbance. It had been days since Operation Knightfall had officially been terminated, but he still couldn't accept the fact that his shortcut to his dreams had been ripped from him so abruptly. He was officially on sabbatical from the military, a fancy way of saying they were paying him to stay at home to keep him out of the way. Still, it did mean that officially he was on vacation. What he did with his personal time was his business. If he just happened to show up where the Rangers did and found out who they were...that was just one of those things.

As his radio burst into life, tuned into the police frequency, he heard reports coming from the mall of a mutant creature attacking people. Wherever the mutants were, he was sure the Rangers wouldn't be far behind. Taking his Sig, and ensuring it was loaded, he slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket and headed for the door.

Over at the Brainfreeze, Troy and Jake stumbled into the restaurant, with Jordan just a little way behind them. Jake smiled.

"Well, we all made it; looks like the girls are paying." Jake said breathlessly. They all felt pretty happy with themselves as they all stood up, until Troy noticed something. He just tapped Jake on the shoulder.

"Uh...Jake, look over at the counter." He told him. Sure enough, there were Gia and Emma sitting by the counter, finishing a couple of sodas. They all looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Uh...how did...?" Jordan quizzed them. "Did you guys...you know...call Tensou to get you here?"

"I go hiking every day." Emma told him. "I know every short cut in town."

"But...we've been running together every morning for a couple of months." Troy reminded her. "How come you never showed me...?"

"Well, I have been trying, but you're so intent on working out, you never noticed." Emma replied, coming over and kissing him softly. "So Ernie, which one of them came in last?"

"Jordan." Ernie called out. Gia just smiled and made her way over to Jordan.

"Well, we've already ordered, so...pay the man Edwards." She teased him. Jordan rolled his eyes as he went for his wallet, heading to the counter.

"How much do I owe you?" He asked. Just then, he heard bleeping coming from the Rangers' table. He looked to them, and then back to Ernie. He just sighed, now that they knew that he knew their secret, it was a lot simpler when things like this happened.

"I'll put them back in the freezer." Ernie sighed, taking the money from Jordan. He smiled as he ran off with the others.

"Thanks Ernie." He told him. "We'll try not to be too long!"

A little while later, the Rangers arrived in the square just outside the mall. They were all morphed, ready for battle, but by the looks of things, by the time they had arrived, the monster had moved on.

"Stay alert; he might not have gone too far." Troy announced.

"He hasn't." Noah replied. "The scanners indicate he's nearby, he's just hiding. He probably wants to catch us unawares."

"Well, he's left plenty of victims for us to find." Jake remarked, kneeling near a woman that was lying on the ground. "Are they...?"

"They're alive." Jordan assured him, switching the visor on his helmet to a scanning mode. "Barely, but they're alive. Their metabolism is running at bare minimum."

"They're poisoned?" Gia suggested.

"No, there's no physical reason they should be like that." He told her. "It's almost like...they're just giving up on living."

"What about these?" Troy asked, running his fingers along the roots.

"They're growing from the victims." Jordan confirmed. "They're rooting into the ground...the earth around them...it's rotting."

"So, let's get them out of here." Jake suggested, calling out his Snake Axe.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Dream Snatcher stated as he stepped into view. "After all, even I don't know what those things are. For all I know...you could be harming them."

"You did this to them?" Emma demanded. "What are you doing to them?"

"I merely ate their dreams." He told the Rangers.

"He ate their dreams?" Jordan asked. "That's it?"

"You...you MONSTER!" Emma screamed at him, running straight for him, firing her Phoenix Shot as she went. Dream Snatcher just stood, taking the hail of fire, with seemingly no more effect than if he was being attacked by a young child. He swiped with his fork weapon, dashing Emma aside.

"You'll find that thanks to Vrak, I am far more powerful than you can imagine." He warned them. "And with every dream I consume, I become even stronger!"

"OK, you're strong, but so are we!" Jordan snarled as he ran into the fray. He swung his Robo Blade, but it just struck Dream Snatcher's shoulder and stopped dead. "OK, that can't be good."

Dream Snatcher punched Jordan, sending him smashing into a bank armoured delivery truck, smashing straight through the side. He looked to the other Rangers.

"You know, I thought Vrak was full of it when he promised me this power, but it looks like the Aurora Box really can deliver!" He stated, waving the others forward. "Come on!"

As the battle raged on, General Edwards arrived, drawing his Sig as he watched from a safe vantage point. Troy, Gia and Noah were all thrown by a power wave attack, leaving Jake as the only one still standing. He rushed towards Dream Snatcher, swinging the Snake Axe in a wide arc. This time though, Dream Snatcher staggered, and he could see some blood running from a deep wound in his chest.

"What...what is this?" He demanded.

"It looks like that absolute power Vrak gives you runs out pretty quickly!" Jake told him, spinning into another attack. Dream Snatcher barely blocked it with his weapon, countering by throwing Jake aside. He looked around.

"I need more power." He stated. Seeing Emma starting to recover, he smiled. "Now...I can just tell this one is a real dreamer!"

He ran over, bringing up his fork, driving it down into Emma's chest. She felt it burning, and her power leaving her as she screamed in pain. At the same time, she could feel something in her mind, tearing away at her resolve, taking all the hope from her. Everything faded to black, and she fell to the ground, de-morphing. Roots of despair started to grow from her, reaching down into the ground.

"Emma!" Jordan screamed as he finally dragged himself out of the armoured car. He ran for Dream Snatcher, who reacted more out of instinct than anything else, jamming his fork into Jordan's abdomen. Jordan fell to the ground, and roots started to grow. He rounded on Jake.

"As much as I'd love to continue this, I really should let my lunch go down before I exert myself any further." He told him. He ran off, leaving the others to lick their wounds.

"Emma!" Gia called out. "Jordan...what can we...?"

"There's nothing we can do for them here." Noah told her. "The only way we can help them is to find Dream Snatcher."

"But...what about...?"

"If we try to remove those roots, we could be doing more harm than good." Troy reminded her. "For now, we have to leave them."

"Fine, but when we take him down, we make it hurt...BAD!" Gia insisted. With that, they teleported away, reluctantly leaving their friends behind.

From his vantage point a little way off, General Edwards looked through the zoom lens in his camera, trying to get it to focus on the fallen Rangers.

"Come on, come on..." He grumbled. "Stupid thing, I paid a hundred and fifty bucks for this...come ON!"

"You know, it's rude to interrupt someone's dinner." Dream Snatcher stated, appearing behind him. The General turned and pointed his Sig straight into his face.

"Please, do you really think that's going to work?" He asked.

"I have to think a whole magazine might slow you down." He replied. Dream Snatcher just swatted the gun from his hand though, before driving the fork into his chest.

"You are an ambitious one aren't you?" He asked. "Do you know what the difference is between ambition and dreams?"

General Edwards fell to the ground and started to grow roots into the ground.

"Ambition is just what they call it when people will do anything for their dreams to come true." He stated, the wound in his chest completely healing. He headed off into the city to find more victims, leaving General Edwards rooted to the ground.


	6. The Land of Broken Dreams

When Emma came to, she had no idea where she was. As she started to clear her vision, she looked around.

It was a cold place, with a thick mist, rolling low across the floor. It was dark in all directions, darker than any night sky she could ever remember, but it was lit up in a few places, giving just enough light to see more than a few feet. On closer inspection, she could see that the light seemed to form up around people, all sitting on the floor, each of them surrounded by items.

Looking around her location, she picked up a camera that looked a lot like her digital camera...only this one seemed to have been smashed. The screen was badly scratched, the lens was cracked, and the casing was badly split, barely holding together as she picked it up, exposing wires and circuitry. Picking up something else, she saw that it was a pile of her favourite environmental magazines and newspapers, but they had been torn up, and left scattered all around her. There were other items all around, but she noted a common theme. They were all things connected to her dreams, and all of them were broken.

It took a moment to put the puzzle together in her head, until she remembered what Dream Snatcher had told her. He ate people's dreams, he took away their dreams, a thought that disgusted Emma, thinking about what life would be like without any dreams, without hope, without anything to drive for. This place, somewhere she was sure Noah would tell her was another dimension, was a living embodiment of that. It was dark, it was cold...she could feel it getting to her, sitting here surrounded by all her dreams, dashed, broken and destroyed. It her heart was already feeling a lot heavier, and a lot colder.

As she looked around, she saw one item that gave her some resolve, picking it up and shoving it inside her jacket. She got up, and clambered over the assortment of junk around her, thinking that perhaps her friends had a point about how many dreams she had, given the difference between her pile of broken dreams and everyone else's. She started to walk among the people trapped with her, most of whom were strangers. She eventually found one that she recognised, it was Jordan.

She was a little surprised to see him at first, thinking about how vocal he had been about putting little stock in dreams, but she could see that there were one or two things lying around where he was sitting on the ground.

"Jordan." She said to him, but she got no answer. She grabbed his shoulder and started shaking him. "Jordan, snap out of it. We've got to get out of here."

Jordan just shrugged her hand off his shoulder, and just sat, staring at the floor. She could almost feel the hopelessness coming from him, from everyone else in the room with them. No one was restrained in any way, they didn't have to be. Surrounded by their shattered dreams, they had lost all will to even try and escape.

She headed across to another of the people in the room, finding him holding the leftover pieces of a guitar that it looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. There were torn up flyers of concerts and shattered pieces of CDs around him too. She approached him.

"You're a musician aren't you?" She asked him. "I've seen you around the mall before, I'm sure of it."

He didn't seem to respond.

She saw that of everyone in the room, she was the only one that had gotten up and left her spot. She started walking among the people, seeing all the shattered dreams around them. She felt something in her drawing her back towards her own spot on the floor, she could hear something whispering to her, talking to her in several voices, all of them people from her life who had told her that her dreams were impossible, that she would never attain what she was looking for, that she was wasting her time and should just accept that her dreams would never be anything more than that.

She reached her hand into her pocket, and grabbed the item there, holding it and drew on the memories it gave her to shake herself out of her funk.

"Alright Dream Snatcher, if this is the game you're playing, let's play." She stated, determined to fight her way out of his world. She took her place in the middle of the crowd. "Hey, hey everyone, you have to listen to me! You have to fight; you need to show this monster you're stronger than he is."

She didn't get a response, but she was only just getting started.

In the Command Centre, Noah, Troy, Jake and Gia were assembled, waiting for signs of another attack, while Tensou kept track of the victims. Unfortunately they couldn't bring Emma and Jordan back to the command centre, since they were rooted to the ground and they still weren't sure what removing the roots would do to them.

"Maybe he's gone somewhere for a nap?" Jake suggested. "I mean, that's what I feel like doing after a major pig out."

"Seriously?" Gia asked. Noah just looked to her.

"It's not as ridiculous as it sounds, a lot of animals rest up after having a lot to eat." Noah informed her. "It helps process what they've eaten, so that the energy is converted more efficiently."

"You do realise that what he's eaten is basically our friends right?" Gia asked him.

"Their vitals are still registering, but they are weak." Tensou told them.

"So what's the story with these roots?" Troy asked him. "Dream Snatcher said he didn't know what the story was with them."

"They're growing into the ground." He informed them. "The ground around them is rotting...it looks like Vrak's plan is to use Dream Snatcher's victims to rot the Earth, and destroy it."

"But if he does that, then the Mutants will die too." Troy stated, looking to the others. "No wonder he didn't tell Dream Snatcher what they do."

"But I thought Malkor wanted the Earth." Jake replied, looking to the others.

"Admiral Malkor wants the minerals the Earth will provide; he does not need the Earth's life forms for that." Gosei interrupted them. "The mutant population is declining. I have suspected for some time that this alliance between the Warstar and the Toxic Mutants was not going to last much longer."

"Wow, if it wasn't for the fact they've been trying to tear us to shreds for months I'd almost feel sorry for them." Jake replied. "So Vrak's going to screw them over too?"

"I've had the feeling Vrak's planning to screw everyone over. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who plays well with others." Troy told them. "So, how do we stop this?"

"Rangers, look!" Tensou squealed, bringing their attention to one of the screens. They all watched as the roots around Emma started to retract, before she was just lying on the ground.

"The roots...they're gone!" Troy stated. "But...how?"

"Maybe Emma had too many dreams for Dream Snatcher to eat." Jake chuckled. Gia just slapped him across the back of his head. "Hey!"

"Knowing Emma, she's fighting for her dreams." Gia told them. "There's nothing that can get her to give up on her dreams. She's always held onto them."

"That's my girl alright." Troy replied with a smile. Just then, Noah whistled.

"Hey guys, it looks like nap time's over. He's showed up again." Noah told them.

"So, what's the plan?" Jake asked them.

"Well, destroying the monster has always worked in the past." Troy stated, picking up his helmet and putting it back on. "Emma's already fighting on the inside; let's give her all the help we can outside."

Back inside Dream Snatcher's dream world, Emma was still busy trying to rally the victims. The hopelessness seemed to have almost completely overtaken them, but she wasn't giving up.

"You've got to hang onto your dreams, you can't let him win." Emma told them. "Dreams are the most important thing in the world. I have lots of dreams, and I want to live all of them."

She still wasn't getting an answer from all the others.

"I want to get my photographs published in nature magazines...I want to get a job as a professional photographer." She started to tell them. "I want to make people think about the environment and be more responsible with the world."

She could see that the people were still mostly trapped, but she could feel some hope from somewhere, she just couldn't pinpoint it. She smiled.

"And one day, I want to have a daughter, and to raise her and teach her all the things that my mom never got a chance to teach me." She continued.

She saw Jordan start to stir, and he muttered something low, and unintelligible. She made her way over, kneeling beside him.

"Jordan?" She asked. "I didn't hear that...what did you say?"

Jordan didn't answer, just turning away from her, clutching something in his hand. She heard a girl nearby say something.

"I want a kitty." She said aloud, looking into an empty basket, with some broken cat toys in it. "I'd take really good care of it!"

Emma wanted to stay with Jordan, to find out what his dream was, but this seemed to be the first glimpse of hope she had seen from her fellow captives. She rushed over, kneeling down with her.

"Of course you would." Emma assured her, looking to her. "What would you call her?"

"I'd call her...hope!" The girl told her. "And I'd play with her every day...and I'd take her to my friend's house where she could play with her cat Felix..."

"I...I...I'm going to go to Los Angeles!" The busker declared as he stood up, holding the broken pieces of his guitar. "When I've earned enough for a ticket and a few weeks in a motel, I'll go out there, and I'll keep busking for the money to stay there while I try and get auditions for record producers."

"You want to be a professional musician?" Emma asked him.

"I want to sing for people, to entertain them and inspire them the way my favourite musicians inspired me!" He told her. "I'll play outside all the major record company buildings until one of them gives me an audition and signs me! And then I'll play all the big venues all over the world!"

"That's great! No dream is too big, or too small!" Emma told him, looking to another guy. "You...that medal in your hand, what's your dream?"

"I'm going to complete the Harwood Marathon." He told her. "All the guys at work are sponsoring me for cancer research...I want to raise lots of money for it..."

"That's a really good dream." Emma told him. He got up, gripping the finisher's medal in his hand.

"I'll do it!" He stated firmly. "I WILL finish the marathon!"

"I will buy my parents that trip to Paris!" A woman declared. "Mom's always wanted to go! It'll be the best ruby wedding anniversary ever!"

"That's it!" Emma said with a bright smile.

"I will ask my girlfriend to marry me!" Another guy declared. "And...I'll take her to her favourite restaurant in Vegas to do it!"

"That's the spirit!" Emma encouraged them. "Come on, believe in your dreams!"

"I will tell my boss to shove his job where the sun doesn't shine!" A girl stated as she got up. "And then I'll tell him he can keep his hands to himself and kick him where it hurts!"

"Uh...OK...not quite what I was going for but...yeah good!" Emma continued.

"I'll finally get my useless sponge of a son to move out of my house!" Another woman declared.

"Um...this isn't what I was really..."

"I will tell my parents that I dropped out of Uni and used all the money they gave me for tuition to start my own tattoo parlour!" A guy yelled proudly.

"Oh...what the hell, I guess it's a dream...good for you I guess."

"I will retire from the military...and I'll become President!" General Edwards announced proudly.

Emma saw him, and suddenly became nervous. She knew that Jordan and his dad didn't get along. Now that he was the only one who hadn't embraced his dream, she was worried that he would be reluctant to tell everyone, especially now he knew his dad was here.

She came across and knelt down with him.

"Jordan, you don't have to say your dream out loud." Emma told him. "You can just tell me..."

He shook his head and pulled into himself. Emma sat with him.

"You know...I think I might know what it is." She told him. "I didn't tell everyone my biggest dreams."

She put her arm around him.

"When I lost my mom, I was very young, but she was my idol, she was everything to me. She always said that dreams were the most important thing in the world, that the world would just be a cold, lonely and depressing place without them. For a while after she was gone, it just seemed pointless to dream. But dad always encouraged me to hold onto my dreams. He said that when times were bad, that was when dreams were the most important. They remind us what's good in the world."

She then looked to him.

"One day, I want to have a little girl, and I want to raise her, to do all the things mom never got a chance to do with me." She pressed on. "Then...one day...I hope that I'll see her again."

Jordan couldn't help looking up, and turning towards her. He had no idea how important dreams were to Emma. He could see that to Emma, they formed a lot of who she was as a person, because she was always brave enough to chase them, and to hold onto them when it seemed pointless to do so.

"And when I see her, I dream that she'll tell me she's seen what I've done, and she'll tell me she's proud of me." Emma concluded. Jordan just picked up a picture from the items at his feet.

"I don't want to wait that long." He told her. She took the picture from him and realised what he meant. It was a picture of his dad. "I want him to say that to me now."

"It'll happen Jordan, I'm sure of it." Emma told him. "You just have to believe in it."

"But dad..."

"I don't know your dad really well, but I'm sure he cares about you in his own way." Emma interrupted him. But for now...we need to get out of here."

Jordan got to his feet, and stood with Emma, holding her hand. She looked to the others.

"And I dream that we'll get everyone out of here." She declared loudly. Then she leaned in and whispered to Jordan. "And then we'll kick Dream Snatcher's butt together."

"That's one dream I think we might be able to make come true." Jordan stated as they started to glow.

Back in the real world, the others had found Dream Snatcher, and were locked in a deadly battle with him. This time, knowing how dangerous he was, they were taking no chances, and had already summoned their Ultra Mode. He was still giving them problems, empowered by the collective energy of all the dreams he had eaten, even Ultra Mode barely gave them the edge they needed to match him.

As Gia scored a glancing hit with her Ultra Sword, driving him away from a grounded Noah, he gripped his fork weapon tightly.

"You think some fancy armour and swords will take me down?" He asked them.

"Well, it's worked up until now." Jake told him. "Let everyone go!"

"As if I would..." He started to say, but all of a sudden he stopped. He started to breathe rapidly.

"Uh...how hard did you hit him?" Noah asked.

"Not THAT hard." Gia told them.

"He's looking a little green around the gills." Jake stated. "Is he...is he going to start blowing chunks?"

A moment later, he was answered as Dream Snatcher doubled over and started retching. Balls of light flew out of his mouth, before scattering into the sky, heading off in different directions; presumably back to where their owners were.

"I knew we could count on Emma." Troy stated with confidence.

"Come on guys, let's keep him busy." Gia told them. "After messing with her dreams, if I know Emma, she's going to be seriously pissed."

Dream Snatcher just launched another energy wave, blasting all four of them into the side of a building. He looked to them in anger.

"Do you have ANY idea how long it took me to feed on all those dreams?" He yelled at them. "Now I'll have to start all over!"

"OK, is it just me or is the world spinning?" Jake asked. "Anyone get the feeling he was just playing with us before?"

"Maybe he likes his dreams tenderised." Noah suggested.

"With the power of the Aurora Box within me, nothing can stop me!" He snarled, rushing towards them. The Rangers just braced for the attack.

Meanwhile, back at the mall, Jordan and Emma came to. Emma helped Jordan up.

"Jordan, are you...?"

"I'm ready for a fight." He told her. "You?"

"After messing with my dreams, I'm going to show Dream Snatcher what a nightmare really looks like." She told him, pulling out her morpher. "Tensou, where are the others?"

"I'll send the co-ordinates to your suits." He assured them.

"Fancy making a real entrance?" Jordan asked. Checking around, he couldn't see anyone around. Anyone sensible would have fled long ago. His armour formed up around him and he converted into flight mode. Emma smiled as she morphed into her Ultra Mode form and leapt on.

"Lead the way." She told him. As they blasted off, General Edwards was slowly coming to. He looked up and saw them flying away. He got to his feet and kicked over a trash can in frustration. He had been so close to finding out who two of them were, and now his opportunity was gone.


	7. The End of a Dream

Jake, Gia, Troy and Noah were locked in a desperate battle with Dream Snatcher, testing everything they had learned to the limit. Even with their Ultra Mode, and with Dream Snatcher having lost all the power he had gained by eating the dreams of dozens of citizens, they found that they were barely able to keep pace.

Dream Snatcher for his part was becoming a lot more confidence, feeling himself believing in his impending victory. Although he had now regurgitated all the energy he had taken in from the dreams of the people he had attacked, the Aurora Box had already magnified his power a hundred fold. Even without any additional power, he could feel his strength was greater than pretty much anything the Rangers threw at him.

"He really wasn't kidding about all that extra power." Jake complained as Noah helped him back to his feet.

"You said it." He responded. "I don't know if the four of us are going to be enough."

"Four, four hundred, what's the difference?" Dream Snatcher replied as he ran through them all, sending them to the ground, their armour only barely saving them as they fell. "I've got all the power I need to destroy all of you myself!"

"Let's test that theory out shall we?" Emma called out as she and Jordan flew into view. Jordan flew past him, Emma lashing out with her Ultra Sword, slicing him down. She leapt into the air, landing on her feet a little way off as Jordan turned back into his combat mode.

"You two took your time." Noah remarked.

"Sorry, we were taking a little nap." Emma told him.

"We were getting back to our roots." Jordan added. Noah just face-palmed.

"Alright, that's it. I am SO starting a lame pun jar in the Command Centre." He grumbled. "I'll be a millionaire in a week."

"OK guys; is everyone still in the fight?" Troy asked as he spun away from Dream Snatcher after launching a wind blast full of dust into his face, blinding him, keeping him busy just a little longer while his friends assembled.

"You know it." Jake stated.

"Then in the absence of a better plan, you know what to do!" He called out.

"I'm in." Jordan told them, attaching his Vulcan Bullet to the Robo Blaster. "Best not take any chances with this guy."

Dream Snatcher cleared his vision; he turned in time to see the combined energy of the Ultra Strike and the Knight Dynamic attack flying straight for him. He smiled and held his arms open, preparing to catch it. Unfortunately, this time, his power just wasn't enough. It burned straight though him. He just stared at the wound in disbelief, before falling face-first to the ground. The Rangers all surrounded him, looking down on him, completely exhausted.

"I'll still never get used to seeing that." Emma responded breathlessly, seeing the charred remains of their opponent.

"We need to catch our breath." Gia reminded the others. "He nearly clobbered us. No way Vrak's not going to give a powerful guy like that a second round."

"He said Vrak increased his power a hundred fold." Jake stated, looking to the others. "It definitely felt that way, even Ultra Mode barely let us keep pace with the guy."

"If they still have that Aurora Box, then they could use it on any of their monsters." Gia interjected. "I think we're going to have to talk to Gosei about some extra firepower."

"I think that conversation's going to have to wait." Troy replied as he pointed up into the sky, where a swarm of Zombats were descending. "It looks like Vrak doesn't believe in rest breaks."

"So, how are we going at this?" Jordan asked. "Gosei Great Grand...?"

"He's powerful, maybe he's too powerful, we need to utilise any advantage we can get." Troy said as he considered their options.

"Maybe if we hit him from more than one direction." Jordan suggested. "It's like the faked flank play in soccer. If you send in two fronts, the defence doesn't know where to expect the pass."

"Wow...you actually can use that head for something other than a punching bag." Gia stated. "It's a pretty solid plan."

"Great, we'll go with it." Troy agreed. "Call the Zords, but don't assemble right away. Jordan, you get the Knight Brothers Megazord and draw his attention."

"Decoy, got it." Jordan agreed, pulling out his Power Card and slamming it into his morpher as the Rangers all called their Zords, ready for battle.

Back in the city, General Edwards was just getting home after his recovery, stumbling into his house. As he got there, he staggered over to the couch and flopped down onto it. After the day he was having. He was close, so close to finding out who the Rangers were, and yet he had been stopped just short of finding out two of their identities. He was sure that if he did, he could have found a way to 'convince' them to reveal who the others were.

Now though, he was sore, he was exhausted, and most importantly, the last thing he wanted to think about was Power Rangers. He turned on his TV.

"Here we are, this is Caitlin Starr reporting for Total Movie Secrets, or TMS. I am here discussing the exciting new development of a Power Rangers movie." The reporter declared. General Edwards rolled his eyes. "And while the details, including the cast have been kept a closely guarded secret, I have been given an exclusive interview, and can reveal the director behind the project. Making his Hollywood Directorial debut, former Ranger Dax Lo!"

General Edwards got up from the couch, and headed to the fridge, looking for a cold drink. He pulled out a beer, and cracked it open, returning as the interview began.

"So...yeah, it's been a while coming, I've been directing the soap opera 'The Gold Diggers of Venice' for three seasons, and then I got a call from Dr Hartford's studio offering me the chance to write and direct a Ranger feature film, and I just figured it was time to move on and show the world what I can do as a director."

"You and the studio have been very tight-lipped about the details of the movie; even the cast list has been kept under wraps, with a lot of speculation and even bets being made. Rumours abound of contracts with legally binding non-disclosure agreements so restrictive that it puts the Pentagon to shame." Caitlin said with a smile. "Can you tell us anything?"

"I really don't want to spoil anything for the audience." Dax chuckled, waving it off. "All I can say for now is that I am basing the team's costume design and powers on the current team, and I can confirm the rumours that while most of the scenes have been filmed, we are going to be filming a lot of scenes in the very near future. Going for ultimate authenticity, we're going to be filming in Harwood County."

General Edwards had to double-take hearing that. They were filming a movie based on the Rangers...in the Rangers' home city? He turned up the volume.

"Alright, so that begs the question...you can tell us...have you had any co-operation from the current team?" Caitlin asked him. "You can tell us...go on."

"I'm afraid that even if I knew who they were, I couldn't tell you." He responded with a little chuckle. "Not every Ranger team has had their identities open to the public like I have, and I respect their right to that. To date, none of my team has even revealed the identities of the team that substituted for us. I will confirm though that I have been in contact with others who have worn the Spandex, and with the exception of a few, most are enthusiastic about the project and have wished me well."

"So...you're telling us that other former Rangers are involved in the project?" Caitlin asked, shifting a little closer. She was clearly fishing.

"Like I said, I couldn't confirm that if it was true." Dax assured her. "I respect those who have done their tenure as the Rangers too much to reveal them. If they choose to do so themselves is another matter."

"You're not really telling us much about the movie." Caitlin responded. "Can you even give us some preview footage?"

"I just so happen to have it right here." Dax replied. As they started to play the footage, General Edwards smiled. A former Ranger was going to film a Power Rangers film, based on a currently active team in their home town. With a little luck, their own arrogance would lead them to observe the production just in case it came a little too close to the mark.

Back at the site of the battle, Dream Snatcher smashed his Fork weapon into Jordan's Megazord, damaging it badly. It fell to the ground, narrowly missing a building as he went.

"This isn't good guys." Jordan told them. "My power's hitting 36 percent."

"Just a little longer." Troy told him as he and Emma buzzed the creature's head in their zords, blasting its eyes to blind it temporarily. "You three are up!"

Gia's Tiger Zord bit into Dream Snatcher's foot, while Jake looped the Snake Zord around behind its legs. Noah sent torpedoes flying into his chest, knocking him down.

"He's down, but he won't be down for long." Troy stated. "Jordan, are you ready?"

"I sure as hell hope so." Jordan replied. They formed up the Gosei Great Grand Megazord. Powering up its Spear, they faced the monster.

"He's getting up." Jake told them.

"Just a little longer." Troy told them. "We'll need everything..."

"We need to..."

"A little longer, I can feel it!" Troy reiterated. He saw that Dream Snatcher was now back on his feet, and trying to clear his vision. "NOW!"

"Victory Charge!" They chorused together, unleashing their final attack. Dream Snatcher took it full on. They watched in horror as he didn't immediately fall.

"That...that was everything we had!" Noah protested.

"Power up again!" Troy told them.

"With what?" Jake asked him as his control console all but exploded in his face. "We've already maxed out every power cell we had! If we try again..."

"We might fry the Zords, but we need to stop him!" Troy reminded them as Dream Snatcher started to shuffle slowly towards them, smoke billowing from his chest as he raised his weapon. "Power up again!"

"Troy, there IS no more power; it's taking what little we have just to keep this thing upright!" Noah told him. "Everything's toast! Even if we use everything we have..."

Just as he got to them, Dream Snatcher pitched forward, falling lifelessly to the ground. Troy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Noah, please tell me we have enough power to get these things back home." Troy told him.

"We do...barely." Noah told him. "It's just as well Tensou doesn't get pissed."

"So...was that a Mega Win?" Jake asked.

"It was a win." Troy replied, looking down to Dream Snatcher's charred corpse with a sigh, realising how lucky they'd been. He was gone, defeated, but it had taken literally everything they had. However, he knew that their victory was more down to luck than anything else. "That's going to have to do for now."

Later in the night, the Rangers, together with Quinn, all raced up the hill. Taking the damaged Zords back to the Command Centre had taken a lot longer than usual, and they were now only barely going to make it in time for the Meteor Shower. They were all carrying as much of the gear as they possibly could, in order to make it in one trip.

"Alright, this is the spot." Noah told them as Emma started setting up her tripod. He set up a table and opened up his laptop. "Jake, are you nearly done with that telescope?"

"Almost." Jake replied, looking to the note on his hand he had made of the co-ordinates. "That should just about...done!"

"Great, just in time." Emma told them. "The meteor storm should be coming overhead any minute."

"I've just got time to set up..." Gia said as she started tapping something on her tablet. "Cat! Sorry I'm late."

"It's OK; I got the traffic report up here." Cat replied, using their code. Traffic Report was how they indicated news relating to Ranger battles. "I know it must have been hard getting there on time."

"I really wish you could be here." Gia answered.

"Well, I have the next best thing." Cat told her. "I'm at the observatory! My brother got me tickets! According to him, I'll be able to see the shower from here! We'll be able to watch it together!"

Emma just smiled and shook her head as Jordan came over to help her with her camera.

"Gia just couldn't miss her Skype chat with Cat." She told him. "I'm really glad things worked out for them, it must really suck being so far apart."

"I guess it must." Jordan answered. "Emma, can I just say something?"

"Sure, what is it?" She asked.

"I just wanted to say, I know I was kind of a jerk about the whole dreams thing." Jordan acknowledged awkwardly. "I just didn't get it. I know I travelled a lot as a kid, and because I met a lot of people with different religions and cultures I liked to think of myself as all enlightened and stuff. I just didn't realise that it was so important to you, but after today...I totally get it. I had no right to bag on you for it."

"It's alright. I know sometimes I can be overbearing too." She told him. She looked to him sadly. "I guess we both had a different experience."

"I'm not sure I..."

"We both lost our moms really young." Emma reminded him. "We've both had to grow up without that in our lives."

Jordan just sighed and nodded.

"I have to apologise too. I guess I haven't talked to you that much, that I might have presumed we'd have a lot more in common, and was a little disappointed we don't. I guess it's because...I guess one thing I never got was the fact that you and your dad aren't that close."

"Emma..."

"When I lost mom, it left a huge part of our lives just...empty." Emma explained to him. "Dad talked to me a lot, convinced me that even if mom wasn't here, I still had to live my life, because that was the gift mom had given me. Dad and I are really close; we have been ever since my mom died. I guess I didn't really get that wasn't the same for you."

"Maybe it's because I took mom from him." Jordan stated.

"You don't believe that do you?" Emma asked him, looking horrified. "Jordan..."

"I don't, I know that it's not my fault mom got sick." He assured her. "But she got so weak, and she died so soon after I was born...I guess I could understand if maybe dad did blame me."

"Has he ever...?"

"Don't worry this isn't a whole Freudian thing." He told her. "He's never said anything like that to me, but I guess I could understand if on some level, that was how he felt. What you and your dad have is really special. I guess I thought I accepted a long time ago that we were never going to be that close."

"Maybe it'll happen one day." She replied. "You could always..."

As she pointed to the sky, he just smiled.

"Well, you did show me that dreams give people strength." Jordan replied. "If dad found out though, he'd probably tell me dreams don't get anyone anywhere. It's only ambition..."

"Well, do you know what ambition is?" Emma asked him. He shook his head. "Ambition is just a dream someone works towards. It all starts with a dream."

"I hadn't thought of it that way." He answered with a smile.

"Guys, it's almost about to start." Troy told them. Emma and Jordan joined their friends, sitting on the hill. Noah had just finished setting up his computer to record the shower. He sat with Quinn, who offered to share her blanket with him. He gratefully accepted. Troy did the same with Emma, while Gia just held her tablet closely. Jordan sat with Jake.

"So, you and Emma made up?" Jake asked him. Jordan nodded.

"I guess I just need to remember that not everyone's going to believe what I do." Jordan told him.

"Hey...hey it's starting!" Noah told them, pointing upwards. The Rangers all looked up, watching as the first of the stars started streaking across the sky.

"I hope everyone remembered their wishes." Emma told them, unfurling her list. Jordan noticed a couple in different coloured ink.

"You added a couple since this morning?" He asked her. She just nodded.

"What can I say? I believe in the power of dreams." She answered him. He just smiled as he looked back to the shooting stars.

Emma drew in closer to Troy, noticing the troubled expression on his face.

"What is it?" She asked him.

"That Aurora Box is still out there." He reminded her. "We barely made it through this time. If that's the power it has..."

"Well, tonight's the night for making dreams come true right?" She asked. He just held her tightly, thinking that so many of his wishes had already come true, maybe she had a point.

"So, how about you?" Quinn asked Noah, kissing him softly. "What are you wishing for?"

"What could I have to wish for when I'm here with you?" He asked, looking to the heavens. However, there was one wish he was making, just not out loud. He had seen firsthand the power the Aurora Box had bestowed on the Mutants, but he knew there was more than one way to put out a fire. If his latest work with Tensou worked, he was on the verge of a breakthrough with his work. If his creation worked, no more innocent victims of mankind's carelessness would have to be destroyed. He was so close to creating a retro-mutagenic agent, he was almost ready to test it. If all went well, he would end the threat of the Toxic Mutants for good.


	8. A Breakthrough

By the time Monday rolled around, the school was abuzz with excitement. Normally, High School politics was really quite boring. Usually, a few promises were made, everyone voted for the most popular candidate, and that was all. Mike though, had stepped up the whole game.

While mudslinging was not exactly a new trick in the senior class election, Mike had gone to incredible lengths with his character assassination. He had played his little video montage right outside the school, leaving all the kids across the weekend with his words still buzzing around the crowd.

As Emma got to the school, a kid stood in front of her, holding a large Paper Mache ball, painted black, with the word "bomb" painted across it in white letters, and a length of string, obviously meant to be a fuse, coming out of it.

"Say, Goodall...I always thought you were kind of cute." He teased her as some of his friends laughed. "How about you and I go out some time?"

Emma just shook her head and walked away. Gia wasn't so forgiving, swiping the "bomb" out of the guy's hand.

"That's NOT funny! People could have been killed!" She growled at him, stomping the "bomb", flattening it into the floor. "Ernie nearly died protecting me! I guess you've never made a mistake dating...but then looking at you, I'd be surprised if you ever got a date!"

She picked up the mass of Paper Mache, and slammed it into his chest.

"Do something useful and get this recycled or something!" She ordered him. She made her way over to Emma's locker, where she was getting some books out. "Don't listen to him, he's just some dumb jerk who thinks he's funny."

"Believe me; if that's the worst of it, I'll be grateful." Emma sighed. Spider was a huge mistake in her life, for a number of reasons. When all was said and done, she had gone out with him, on some level she had cared about him. Or at least...she cared about who she THOUGHT he was. He had played her like a fiddle, all so he could get access to the chemical plant. If it wasn't for the intervention of her friends, especially Noah, his plan would have succeeded. It was easily the most humiliating time of her life, realising that she had swallowed his line completely, and in doing so had put hundreds, possibly thousands of lives in danger. "Have you seen the latest poll results?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Gia asked her, sucking her teeth. Emma just sighed and nodded. She had avoided the Social Hub for most of the weekend, but knew that now she had to hear the extent of the damage.

"Jules' support is currently down to 2 percent." Gia informed her. This wasn't much of a surprise, her support had only been 6 percent before, going down to 2 meant that she only had two, maybe three people still supporting her, and considering the fact she was going to be voting for herself...that really didn't give her much of a chance. "Jake's standing at 21 percent, Mike..." She looked to Emma.

"Just tell me the damage." Emma implored her.

"Fifty eight percent." Gia told her. Emma just slammed her locker shut. "Well...it's not as bad as it could have been."

"It's pretty bad." Emma answered.

"Well...there's still the debate." Gia reminded her. That afternoon, the candidates would take part in the first of two debates that would help swing the vote. The first was on Monday, and the second was on Friday, right before voting opened. Emma just gave her a withering look.

"Well...Kennedy won the whole thing based on his televised debate." Gia reminded her.

"Kennedy had never been accused of being in league with a terrorist though." Emma answered. "I wonder how Jake's taking the news."

"You can ask him yourself." Gia told her, pointing to where Jake was standing by his locker. He was wearing a white shirt, with a slogan across the back, calling on students to vote for him. Jordan was wearing an identical shirt.

"Hey Jake." Emma greeted him. "Nice shirt."

"It was Jordan's idea." Jake told her. "It's not my colour, but the print wouldn't show up in black."

"Why didn't he just do the print in white?" Gia asked. Jake thought about this for a second, before looking to Jordan, who just shrugged.

"What? I don't have an official colour!" He complained. "I just kind of gravitate to white or grey...and white's closer to Grey that black is."

"So...you chose MY campaign t-shirt based on YOUR colour, not mine?" Jake asked him.

"Well...I have to wear it don't I?" Jordan asked. "Besides, you made me your campaign manager, I don't remember asking for that job, so you can't exactly complain now I'm doing it."

"He has a point." Gia conceded.

"So, are you ready for the debate?" Emma asked.

"I spent all Sunday trying to figure out what to say." Jake told her. "Dad was pretty much no help...Jordan just sucks at writing speeches..."

"Hey!"

"Face it Jordan, its true." Jake put down flatly. "I'm not looking forward to this."

"So...have you seen the poll results?" Gia asked.

"Mike's stormed ahead." Jake grumbled. "Honestly, I don't care who wins as long as he gets brought down. Did the school do anything against him?"

"His little home theatre stunt was outside of school property, so technically there was nothing they could do about it." Gia informed him. "They've issued him with a reprimand, but you probably saw the coffee stands still out there."

"So in other words, he just gets away with it." Jake replied. "I guess he will be a politician some day."

"What did your parents have to say about it?" Gia asked. Jake just shrugged.

"They aren't happy, but they know there's nothing that can be done about it." Jake replied. "It's not like anything he said isn't technically true. Besides, my record will be expunged when I turn 18 in a few months. Until then, all I have to do is put up with what people have to say."

"Say, has anyone seen Noah?" Troy asked as he arrived. Jake just shook his head.

"He sent me a text this morning, he said he was sick." Jake told them. Just then, the bell rang. As they finished collecting their books, they all made their way to their first class, knowing that the day ahead would be a trying one. It looked like Noah had lucked out, being sick.

Meanwhile, in the Command Centre, Noah was taking his sick day to further his work. He wasn't actually sick, but he was so close to his goal, he couldn't afford to leave it any longer than absolutely necessary.

The only reason he didn't tell his friends that he was on the verge of a breakthrough was because he didn't want to get their hopes up. The last monster had given them a harsh wake up call. The Aurora Box had indeed increased his power to astronomical levels. They had barely managed to get through the battle, never mind win it. With the box still out there, and potentially able to power up more monsters, the fact was that they didn't have long until another monster just as powerful came for them, or...worse...if Bigs or Bluefur used it on themselves...it didn't bear thinking about.

"Noah, are you sure about this?" Tensou asked him. "You're meant to be in school..."

"Tensou, the work I'm doing in here is beyond the level of most universities. It's not like I'm going to miss anything of value." Noah told him. "Besides, if this works, it'll be far more important than anything I'd be doing at school."

"You aren't sure it'll work?" Tensou asked him.

"That's why they call it experimental science." Noah replied. "I've run as many tests with tissue samples as I can. Sooner or later, the test has to go full scale."

He looked to the isolation tank Spider was suspended in. He connected up a few tubes to the system.

"You're going to test it on Spider?" Tensou asked.

"I need to try it on a living specimen." Noah reminded him. "I need to know if it's going to work. I'll need you to track his vitals while I administer the serum."

"So, what happens now?" Tensou asked.

"Now, we cross our fingers." Noah told him. "Best case scenario, this manages to sort out the mutated strands of DNA from the base codes in the sample and turns him back to normal."

"Worst case scenario?" Tensou asked. Noah didn't answer. Since the basic principle of the process involved breaking up genetic code, the potential was that it wouldn't be reassembled. He knew that if this went wrong, he wouldn't just kill Spider, he would break apart his entire genetic structure, turning him into sludge. Still, he knew that there were only so many times he could try out his serum on samples. Eventually he needed to test it on a real, live mutant, and since Spider was the only one they had to hand, that didn't really leave him with much of a choice.

"OK, here goes nothing." Noah stated, hitting the command sequence. Chemicals started to be pumped into the tank. Tensou tracked the vitals.

"Everything's looking good so far." Tensou told him.

"Some of the tissue is showing responses." He stated. Just then, Spider's arms twitched. "Wait...that shouldn't happen, he's still in isolation."

"His heart rate is increasing." Tensou stated. "Noah..."

The Blue Ranger watched as the creature in the tank started to jerk and spasm uncontrollably, slamming into the sides of the tube.

"Noah, his vitals are all spiking!" Tensou shrieked as the liquid in the tank changed colour, becoming dark.

"Keep track of them Tensou!" He instructed. "The system says the DNA sequencing is changing...I just need to stabilize it."

"Noah!"

"Do what you can! Just a little longer!" Noah screamed. "It'll just take a few more..."

"He's flat lining!" Tensou told him. "We have to shut down so I can resuscitate..."

The system shut down, and Noah just stared at the tank. It was now full of murky, dark fluid. He couldn't see anything inside.

"I...I thought...it should have worked." Noah stammered. Just then, he saw something slump against the glass. It was a hand...a HUMAN hand.

"Drain the tank!" Noah yelled. Tensou hit a few keys on the computer, at which the fluid drained out. Sure enough, as Noah opened the tube, he saw that it appeared to be Spider, having returned to his human form. "Tensou, help me!"

Tensou immediately began to get to work, resuscitating Spider. Noah could only watch tensely for a few moments, before Tensou finally got a response.

Noah started to scan Spider as Tensou set up a stasis field. He looked to Noah.

"What does the scan say?" Tensou asked. Noah smiled as he brought it up on the screen.

"This is Spider's genetic code from before the mutation." He told Tensou. "And this is his scan now."

"They...they're identical!" Tensou squealed. "We've done it!"

"There are a lot of kinks that need to be worked out, not to mention a delivery system that will cover an area." Noah told him. "But...we've done it! We have a retro-mutagenic agent!"

He looked to Spider and smiled.

"Thanks to him, we've now got what we need." Noah told Tensou. "Soon, we'll be able to end the threat of the Toxic Mutants for good!"

"So...uh...what do we do about him?" Tensou asked. "I mean, he knows about us. What do we do with him now we've turned him back." Noah's smile slipped.

"I hadn't thought about that."

Elsewhere, a black motorcycle rode into an old warehouse. Skidding to a halt, the man on the back got off. He was wearing a black leather jacket, and dark blue denims. As he got off the bike, he looked around, before touching the side of the helmet.

"Master, are you sure this is the place?" He asked. Just then, a crate came tumbling down. Behind it, he could see some Loogies. He then sighed and shook his head. "Never mind."

He pulled off his helmet, revealing a handsome, chiselled face, and light, blonde hair. He flashed a bright, toothy grin at the creatures.

"Wow, and ambush. Whatever will I do?" He asked, hanging his helmet on the handlebar of the bike, before taking off his jacket. His t-shirt was very tight, showing off his remarkable physique. As Loogies swarmed out all around him, he adopted a guard. "Come on!"

The creatures all rushed him, the first two going flying to a flying split-kick, before he swept another four, putting them on the ground. He ran and leapt over the bike, flying-kicking another Loogie through a crate.

"I'd have thought Malkor would have learned by now!" He stated. As another swung its dagger for him, he caught its wrist, disarming it and cutting it down, before turning on the others.

As they surrounded him, he started pacing, looking for position. The first ran for him, bringing its dagger down, only for it to be disarmed and cut down with ease, giving the stranger a second weapon.

The rest swarmed him, most of them being taken down in short order, but one got in a hard punch to the face, before kicking him in the chest. The hero landed on his shoulders, before kipping up back to his feet, smashing the creature down.

More of the Loogies swarmed him, but like a hurricane of attacks, he sent them all to the ground. Eventually, he got to the last one, and leapt up into the air, bringing both blades down, slicing across its chest several times. As it staggered back, he just stared at it. After a moment, he breathed a sigh, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"You were just slashed by a pair of swords." He told it. "You're meant to fall down?"

The creature then did a back-flip, landing unconvincingly on the ground. He just started to walk away, shaking his head in disgust.

"CUT!" Dax called out from behind a bank of cameras. The actor just walked towards him, handing the swords off to a prop guy. "Xavier, you were great, you were perfect..."

"God damn newbies, I thought you said this crew knew what they were doing!" He snarled.

"Xavier..."

"The good guy hits them, they go down." Xavier replied. "It's not a difficult concept. I could teach a sodding ten year old to do it for Christ's sake!"

"Xavier...your nose is bleeding." Dax told him. Xavier looked in a mirror, seeing that Dax was right. He just rolled his eyes as he grabbed some cotton buds from the makeup table, beginning to clean up.

"I'm sorry sir, it was..."

"It's an accident kid." He responded to the apologetic stunt worker who ran over. "It's an occupational hazard. At least you know when to take a bump!"

The other guy was sitting on a chair, holding his head in shame. A lot of people weren't happy with him messing up his part. Takes were costly, both in time and in money.

"Look, Xavier...why don't we take five?" Dax asked him. "We can do another take before we go home."

"Just make sure your guys know what they're doing this time." Xavier told him as he went to his trailer. When he got there, he sat with his feet up on his desk, crossed at the ankles. He picked up a copy of a magazine, which had his picture on the front cover. He just sighed as he saw the headline, declaring him a phoney. He threw it across the room, into the trash. Dax came in and saw the display.

"I thought you said..."

"Xavier, today was just a slip up. The kid learned his lesson." Dax assured him. "When I said this would be your best work, I meant it. No one can fake the moves you do."

"That's not what the press and the MMA magazines seem to think." Xavier replied sadly. Dax just patted him on the shoulder.

"Trust me, when we're done, no one will doubt your abilities." Dax assured him. "Just...try not to scream at the stunt crews. That's kind of my job."

Xavier just nodded.

"So, are you all packed up and ready to go to Harwood?" Dax asked him.

"I'm not the one with all the Diva demands." He replied with a chuckle. "Did you see the number of people Clarissa has?"

"That is your love interest remember?" Dax replied. "You let me worry about the fact she's packed more luggage than the rest of the production combined."

"Give me ten minutes." He responded. "I'll be ready to re-shoot then."

With that, Dax left him alone to rest up for the next take.


	9. The Power of Debate

As the school day progressed, Jake continued to look for inspiration for the debate. He was never immensely good at such things anyway, being considerably less than interested in politics for most of his life. Despite his outgoing nature, he was actually quite guarded about his real feelings and thoughts. He was always much happier to let people see him clowning around and believe that he really was as carefree and confident as he seemed. He didn't even like it when his teachers would make him stand up and discuss his reading or his work in class. He was always scared that people would judge him, or that they wouldn't like him if he told them his thoughts. He didn't want to look stupid, or worse, that people wouldn't like him.

He had, for a long time, stuck very strictly to the old saying, better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to speak and leave no doubt. He knew that he wasn't exactly the deepest of thinkers at times. He was in no danger of being considered a great philosopher. He had, however, figured out that being silent was sometimes just as bad, if not worse, than saying something stupid. That was when he realised that sometimes the times people paid least attention to what he was actually saying was if he was acting like a jackass. At best, they didn't listen to what he said, at worst, if they did and were offended or shocked, they just wrote it off as a joke. It was a defence he had kept up for most of his life.

Now though, he wasn't sure exactly how to progress. His reputation as a joker, as a goofy clown was one of the reasons some people didn't believe he was serious in anything he was going to promise as Class President. Now that news of his summer in Juvenile Hall was common knowledge, there was another opinion of him, one that meant a lot of kids were doubting if they could trust him.

He tore off another page of his notebook, and tossed it at a trash can in the corner, only for it to bounce off onto the floor. He didn't see a hand reaching down to pick it up and put it in the bin.

"I guess I can see why you don't play basketball." Allison teased him as she wheeled over to the table next to him. Jake just ran his hands through his hair.

"Thanks." Jake responded. "Emma would have given me hell if I hadn't picked that up."

"She definitely isn't faking it with that whole environmental thing." She agreed. "I remember the hell she kicked up when I had that tree removed to get a parking spot closer to the school. I guess I got my wish on that part...all things considered I think I'd prefer to still be parking behind the gym."

Jake just looked up at her.

"Listen, I really..."

"Jake, is it true what Mike said?" She asked him. "Did you really go to Juvie?"

His face lost all expression and he just nodded.

"There was a skinhead kid that used to come here." Jake told her. "He used to get on my case all the time because I'm Jewish. He and his friends used to hassle lots of kids in the school, but he liked to make a point of picking on me. One day, after I found out they'd beaten some kid up because his skin was the wrong colour, I just lost it."

He saw her listening to his story intently.

"I know it was dumb, but I went looking for him. I don't even know what I was planning to do. I just wanted to get him on his own, to see if he was as brave when he didn't have a bunch of friends around. When I got there, and started yelling at him, he just...he just laughed at me."

"So what happened?" She asked him.

"We argued for a while, and pretty quickly, we weren't saying anything. We were just fighting." Jake told her. "You know...to this day I can't even remember who threw the first punch. His apartment was on the second floor of an apartment building. All I remember was we were wrestling, and then, somehow, he ended up going over the railing. I ran down the stairs and stayed with him until an ambulance came."

"So, it was an accident." She surmised. "You didn't mean..."

"I didn't try to kill him if that's what you're asking." Jake interrupted her. "I just wanted him to stop, to leave us alone. I know looking for him was a dumb thing to do. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done. I paid for it."

She just moved her chair a little closer.

"Well...I know a little something about that." She replied, tapping the armrest of her chair. "This...this was the price I paid for doing something stupid. The one thing I know, is that doing something stupid once doesn't make you a bad person."

Jake just looked at her, a little surprised to hear her talk to him this way.

"Jake, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about before." She told him. "I know it's no excuse, but after the accident...I've been to counselling and support groups and stuff, but I still have a lot of anger about it, and I guess I take it out on others at times. I try not to, but I guess I still have a way to go with that."

"Don't worry about it." Jake assured her. "Now, unless you know something about writing speeches, I really have a lot of work to do. If I don't start changing some voters' minds, then I'm not going to be making any of these changes around the school."

"You were always serious about that weren't you?" Allison asked him. Jake just nodded.

"Like I said, I won't deny that I hadn't thought about it much until I found out about you, but since I started looking into it, I know that there are a lot of things that need to change." Jake stated. "They might technically meet the legal requirements, but that doesn't mean its good enough."

"Let me have a look at that." She told him, taking the pad from him. Jake just looked at her curiously.

"Allison, no offence, but what do you know about writing speeches?" He asked her. She just looked at him witheringly.

"I did used to be the head cheerleader." She reminded him. "I know how to get people to listen to what I have to say."

"To be honest, I don't think they were necessarily LISTENING." Jake replied with a cheeky grin. "Those outfits didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination."

Allison just smiled.

"I guess there is some truth in that." She agreed. "But do you really have a better idea?"

Jake just shook his head.

"I guess not." He answered, allowing Allison to look over his work. He got up from the table. "Do you want a soda or something?"

"Not from that machine, it's a complete rip off." She told him. "If you don't mind going to the canteen though, I wouldn't mind a juice."

"I'll be right back." He replied as he started making his way out the door.

Later, as the school day came to an end, the senior class came into the assembly hall. Normally, a few kids would come, but this time around thanks to Mike; pretty much every senior in school was there. If they were being optimistic, Emma and Jake would chalk it up to the kids wanting to hear what they would promise, but realistically, they were sure they were probably just here to see if Mike had any more dirt to dish up on his rivals.

"How are you holding up?" Gia asked Emma as she prepared herself for the debate. Emma just took a deep breath, and straightened out her jacket.

"I'm doing a lot better than Jules." She answered, pointing to the other candidate, who was currently pacing back and forward, chewing her nails. Emma took some more deep breaths. "Wow, that sounds like a lot of people."

"Pretty much the whole year's out there." Jordan confirmed. Just then, Principal Kwann showed up.

"I appreciate moral support, but I'm afraid anyone that isn't a candidate has to leave." She told them. Gia, Jordan, and a number of hangers-on Mike had brought with him all made their way into the hall, leaving the candidates alone with Trini. She looked to the candidates. "Now, I know a little something about politics, and about high school...and I know it's scary to make speeches. Just take your time, and try to stay calm." She told them, before looking to Mike. "Oh, and Mike, remember what I said, keep it clean!"

With that, they all headed to four podiums on the stage. It wasn't an encouraging start as most of the crowd started chanting Mike's name. He'd even paid off the cheerleaders to put on a display for him as he made his way to the podium, accepting the applause. They all took their positions, putting their notes up ready for the questions to begin.

"Alright Seniors, you all know why you're here." Trini addressed them. "To begin with, we'll take an opening address from each candidate, and then I'll open the floor to appropriate questions. Jules, why don't you begin?"

Out at the old chemical plant, Vrak made his way inside, finding Bluefur sitting on his throne of broken machine parts, waiting for him. As he arrived, Bigs stood in his way.

"I have to say, I was beginning to wonder if anyone was home." Vrak commented. "I didn't see much in the way of guards."

"Our numbers are dwindling because of this war." Bluefur stated. The fact was that there weren't many of the mutants to begin with. The process of the mutation was long and painful, and many generations of animals subjected to the toxic waste simply perished long before their bodies became accustomed to the toxins. The Rangers had also destroyed quite a few, meaning that now, of those that were left, many were going into hiding.

"Well, I trust you saw how Dream Snatcher did against them?" He asked with a smile. "They threw everything they had at him, and barely escaped with their lives."

"The power of the Aurora Box is indeed impressive." Bigs stated. "But why should we risk any more of our forces when your Warstar sit up there in your comfy spaceship?"

"We are preparing to honour our side of the bargain." Vrak told them. "But if you need a further token of our sincerity, then here...take the Aurora Box."

"You would simply give this power away?" Bigs asked him, eyeing Vrak suspiciously. Although Bluefur was the more powerful of the two, Bigs had the keener intellect. He suspected for some time that Vrak was holding something back, and was always suspicious that he intended some form of double cross.

"I have accomplished what I intended to with it, and as promised, I will assist you in cleansing the world of your human problem." He answered regally as he walked up to Bigs. "The Aurora Box is now yours to do with as you see fit."

"Master...with this, we can power up any of our..."

"I think the time for sending our followers to their doom is passed." Bluefur answered, getting up from the chair. He grabbed his massive staff. "With all due respect to Admiral Malkor, there is a time to send followers, and there is a time for a true leader to show why he deserves such devotion."

"My Lord, you can't be..."

"Dream Snatcher took everything those Rangers had, and they barely survived." Bluefur replied with a smile. "And we both remember how I humiliated the Robo Knight the last time we fought. If we power ourselves up with the Aurora Box...just imagine what we will accomplish!"

"Then let me show you the ritual." Vrak told them. "Then you can do with the power as you wish."

After the debate, Troy, Emma, Gia, Jordan and Jake made their way into the Brainfreeze, feeling a lot better than they had been in the beginning. Things had gone amazingly well for them. After the candidates had all addressed the students, and the floor had been opened to questions. This was actually a lot better than Jake and Emma had been hoping for. It seemed that despite all his tricks, Mike had actually done very little in the way of creating policies and preparing for questions.

With Principal Kwann nearby, he had been unable to continue to capitalise on the dirt he had gathered on the other candidates. She had warned him before the debate, he couldn't risk doing anything that would get her to disqualify him from the race while she was within earshot.

As they sat down, Troy went to get the drinks in.

"OK, I am definitely a lot happier with how that went." Jake said with a smile. "Emma, where did you come up with that thing about the vending machines?"

"Well, I was just thinking about all the things I've been promising, and thought it would be easier if the school got a little more money in." She told them. "So, when I heard the vending machine contract was coming up for renewal, I started checking out some of the contracts the school was offered last time. It turns out a few of them were offering to put a percentage of the profits into the school, but the last principal went with the current firm anyway."

"Why?" Jordan asked, taking the papers from Emma and looking at them. "It's not even like they were offering the cheapest contract."

"Well, I can't prove anything of course, but it wouldn't be the first time firms have given out back-handers for lucrative contracts." Emma told him, taking the paperwork back from him. "So, if we went with another firm, we might just bring in a little money for the school budget."

"I really wish I had thought about that." Jake replied. "Still, at least some people are starting to believe..."

"Hey, Jake?" They heard someone saying. He turned to see Allison coming over.

"Um...hey, Allison." He greeted her. "Is there something..."

"I just wanted to say, you did really well today." She told him. "I was just wondering if you'd maybe like to discuss some more ideas?"

"Oh...well...Jordan's kind of my campaign manager..."

"It's alright; I'm not the jealous type." Jordan answered, slapping Jake on the back, causing him to wince. "Go ahead; I have some serious Spanish homework to do anyway."

"I'll get some coffee." Jake told her as he went to the counter with Allison. Emma just furrowed her brows and looked to Jordan.

"I thought you were fluent in Spanish." She commented. He just smiled and shrugged.

"I took it as an easy A." He replied. As Troy got back with their drinks, Gia looked to her tablet.

"Whoa...Emma, check this out!" She shrieked. Emma looked to the tablet, seeing that it was the Social Hub. Troy checked it over her shoulder.

"Mike's still in the lead." He remarked.

"Yeah, but his lead has totally slipped." Gia told him. She demonstrated the trending on a graph, before pulling up the results. Jules, who was a nervous wreck on the stage, and had actually left to throw up in a trash can, was still only showing a 2 percent support. However, while Mike was still in the lead, his support had slipped to 42 percent.

"Emma, you're in second place." Troy said with a smile. Her support had risen to 29 percent, leaving Jake in third place with the remaining 27.

"It's still way behind." Emma reminded him.

"But it's a pretty huge turn around." Gia said encouragingly. "Mike embarrassed himself in that debate. Maybe not as much as Jules, but he showed he has no ideas. A lot of people are starting to see through his bull."

"He's only beating you by 12 percent." Troy chipped in. "It's not like that's unrecoverable."

"There's four more days before the vote." Gia replied. "Come on Emma, we've got work to do."

As the girls hurriedly left, taking their drinks with them, Troy just sighed.

"You know, I remember a time I actually had a girlfriend." He joked. "How about you? Are you going to take Jake away to talk strategy?"

"Nah, I think he's good for now." Jordan replied, looking over to where Jake was talking with Allison, sharing a joke and laughing. "We'll do more work tomorrow. Right now, I'm seriously jonesing for a chilli cheese Panini. Hey Ernie, think you can fire up the Panini iron?"


	10. One Solution One New Problem

The following morning, Troy got to school early. Although his parents owned and ran a gym, now that Trini had set one up in the old basement of the school, he preferred to do much of his workouts there. Although they had no problem with him doing martial arts, since he had done for most of his life, the fact was that now his workouts were getting a lot more intense, and there were some things he was doing that he was sure would cause his parents more than a little concern. After all, there was a big difference between training for the possibility he might have to fight, as he had been, and training for a war he was currently fighting.

He was also training for something else entirely. He was training for a war, a much larger war that he knew was coming. Although his friends knew about his dreams, he wasn't able to explain to them the full scale of what he had seen. He had explained already that what he saw was all the Rangers that had been before, fighting alongside them against a force of unimaginable size. His team mates had seen all the figurines lining the walls of Gosei's cave, and so they had some idea how many Rangers there had been, but other than that, there was no way to put into words what he had seen.

At times, he questioned his own sanity. If it hadn't been for all the things he had seen in the real world, alongside his friends, witnesses that could confirm what he had seen was real, he would have seen a doctor long before now. He had seen many of the things from his dreams come to pass. He had seen the Robo Knight joining them long before Jordan actually came to them. He had seen a number of their foes before they showed up. While he no longer questioned his sanity, he was now, if anything, more frightened than ever before. No one understood what he had seen, and if it came to pass, he wasn't certain they would ever be ready for it.

He snapped around as he heard the door opening behind him, and Noah came in. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was just here to..." His words tailed off as he looked around. "Emma's not here?"

"I'm alone." Troy told him. "I guess it is early. I'm sure she and Gia are somewhere..."

"I really need to talk to you guys." Noah told him. "It's about the Mutants."

"We're all worried." Troy admitted. "With that Aurora Box still out there..."

"Troy, if this goes as planned...hopefully that won't be a problem." Noah told him. "Contact the others and come with me. There's something I need to show you."

"Can't you just..."

"Trust me; you're going to want to see this." Noah assured him. "You won't believe me if I just tell you."

"Noah, what are you...NOAH!" Troy called after him, but it was too late. Noah had already teleported out of the Command Centre. He just sighed and shook his head, pulling his morpher out of his bag.

"Guys, its Troy." He began. "Noah said he's got something we need to see in the Command Centre right away."

As he put his morpher away, he headed for the shower Trini had built into the room to clean up, before getting changed.

Deep within the old chemical plant, Vrak was several hours into the ritual required to impart the powers of the Aurora Box into Bigs and Bluefur. They were the most powerful of their kind, even without the power of the box. With it, they would become virtually unstoppable. At least...that's what Vrak hoped they would believe.

"Incredible, this power is incredible." Bigs stated as he looked to his hands, feeling his new power coursing through him.

"So, I think I have proven that I have delivered on my part of the deal." Vrak told them. "Now, if I could just ask..."

"I think we're finished taking your orders Vrak." Bluefur interrupted him. He snatched up the Aurora Box, and handed it to Bigs.

"But...I gave you that power..."

"And for that, we are most grateful." Bigs stated. "But as we agreed before, the Earth is ours. Since we now have the power to take it, we're going to let you leave with your life."

"You ungrateful..."

"Spare us your righteous indignation." Bigs chuckled. "You'd do the same to us if you thought of it first."

Bluefur smashed him into the side of the plant with his mace, before the two of them left. As he picked himself up out of the wreckage, Vrak just smiled.

"Who says I didn't?" He asked rhetorically as he teleported back to the ship. Once the mutants were done with the Rangers, win or lose, Vrak was ready to manoeuvre the Warstar in to clean up what was left of the victor.

In the Command Centre, Noah was looking for something when the others arrived, while Tensou was in the back, working on something. He could hear crashes and every now and then an assortment of parts would fly into view. As the others arrived, Jake pulled back just in time to avoid a large spring flying his way.

"Sorry." Tensou called out.

"OK, what's with the redecoration job?" Jake asked. "I thought Tensou was meant to fix things, not break them."

"He's working on something. He won't even give me the details." Noah informed them, continuing to look around. "But he did say it relates to my news."

"What news?" Emma asked him. "Gia and I were going to use study hall to work on..."

"Trust me; this is way better than study hall." Noah assured them. "But...I seem to have lost..."

"Looking for me?" They heard a familiar voice saying. Emma just gulped and moved a little closer to Gia as she realised who it was. As they all turned slowly, they saw Spider stepping out of the shadows. "Hey there, it's been a while."

"Spider?" Emma asked, unable to believe what she was seeing. She looked to Noah. "You...you..."

"I figured out a retro-mutagen." Noah told them. "I changed him back."

"Yeah, good job on that." He answered sarcastically. "It took you long enough."

"OK, did he seriously just give Noah shit for changing him back into a human?" Jordan asked the others. "Well...as close to human as he ever got anyway."

"So, can you do this...?"

"I need to synthesise a form that doesn't have to be administered to the bloodstream." Noah started to explain. "Then we need a delivery system that can deploy the serum over a large enough area, but yes, this should work on all the mutants. It should break up the mutagens in the streams around the old chemical plant too. It'll still be toxic, but it won't make any more mutants."

"So, we can finally turn all the mutants back into animals!" Emma shrieked in delight as a smile came to her face. "We won't have to destroy any more of them!"

"And it's all thanks to Spider...as galling as that is to say." Noah told them as he saw Spider checking out some of the equipment in the lab. "Unfortunately, it does leave us with another problem."

"Yeah, making a delivery system and..."

"That's not the problem I meant." Noah interrupted Troy as he jerked his head in Spider's direction. Troy just shrugged his shoulders.

"What's the problem? He's human now." He responded. "We just have to take him back..."

"Oh, somehow I don't think so." Spider put down flatly.

"What's he talking about?" Troy asked. He looked to Spider.

"Now, let's see, I've spent months in a test tube being used as a guinea pig, and now you want to take me back to the town where I've already been convicted of terrorism and I'm looking forward to months in Juvie, before being transferred to a maximum security prison. I'm thinking...no." Spider told them, tossing a bottle of chemicals, which Noah hurried to catch.

"Oh, and what exactly makes you think you have much of a choice in the matter?" Gia asked.

"Well, I had a lot of time to think in that test tube, and I realised...I know a hell of a lot that other people don't about all of this." He told them. "I know who all of you are. I may not know where this is, but I've seen enough of the stone and the plant life to be able to narrow it down. If I end up back in the can, I might not have a lot to occupy my time. I might just start getting a little chatty."

The others just looked to Noah, who sighed and nodded his head.

"That would be the problem." He told them.

"I can definitely see what you saw in him." Troy teased his girlfriend. "I'm glad your judgement is getting better."

"OK, in case you haven't noticed, you're kind of a wanted criminal." Jake reminded him. "What exactly do you think we can do about that?"

"He could always stay here I guess." Jordan suggested.

"Trade one prison for another? I don't think so." Spider replied. "But with the setup you have here, I think you can arrange something. I'm thinking I'd like a home somewhere nice and hot with no extradition treaty."

"Is he serious?" Gia asked.

"I'm deadly serious." Spider told her. "And I'm sure you can make sure I'll never go hungry. The other alternative is you kill me, and since you already worked so hard to save me, I doubt you'll do that."

"OK, someone remind me why we helped this guy again?" Jordan asked.

"I'm beginning to wonder." Emma grumbled. "Spider, what you're asking is...it's unreasonable. Doesn't anything we've done mean anything to you? Didn't...didn't I mean anything to you?"

"I think we both know the answer to that." He replied sharply, before looking to Troy. "You seem to make the decisions here, so I'll talk to you. Set me up, and I might just keep my mouth shut. Otherwise..."

Just then, the alarm sounded. Troy and the others went to the viewing screens to see what was happening. Pulling up the image, they saw Bigs and Bluefur in the city, wreaking havoc.

"Since when did they launch attacks themselves?" Jake asked.

"Maybe they're running short on followers." Jordan suggested.

"I think it's a little more than that." Troy replied, pointing to something in Bluefur's hands. They all saw what he was indicating.

"Who wants to bet that's the Aurora Box Dream Snatcher was talking about." Gia stated, looking a little concerned.

"Great, we saw what that thing did to a joker like Dream Snatcher." Jordan responded. "Last time we went up against those two, Bluefur used my face to mop the floor!"

"According to the police scanners, all the schools have been closed, and the kids sent home under guard." Noah told them. "That'll mean no one will wonder where we are. They'll presume we were coming in late because we had Study Hall and just stayed home when we heard about the attack."

"Wait...what about the Retro-mutagen?" Emma asked. "If we can change them back, maybe we won't have to fight them."

"I've got the computer working on creating a vaporised form of the serum that will work by inhalation. It should be complete soon." Noah told them. "All we need is a delivery system."

"I've got something in mind." Tensou assured them from where he was working.

"In the meantime, we need to assume none of this is going to work." Troy told them. "We need to be ready in case we have to destroy them."

"But..."

"Noah, with all due respect, how often do our plans actually work the way they're meant to?" Troy asked him. "Gosei, keep us updated on the progress here, until then, we'll do this the old fashioned way."

"Wait, what about our deal?" Spider called out as they assembled in the middle of the room.

"We'll talk about it if we survive." Troy answered, preparing his morpher.

"Go Go Megaforce!" They chorused, slamming their power cards into their morphers, teleporting out of the Command Centre, leaving Spider alone. He just went to one of the benches and hopped up onto it, lying back.

"So, who do I ask for some food around here?" He asked with an arrogant grin as he waited for the others to return. For the first time in a long time, he was in a position of power, and he had every intention of keeping it that way. He would never see the inside of a prison again. If they wanted him out of their lives, they were going to have to pay him to leave, and if he could help it, he was going to milk it for everything he could get.


	11. Bluefur and Bigs

When the Rangers got to the city, Bigs and Bluefur were making their presence felt. Unsurprisingly, they weren't even trying to hide, but backed up by the power of the Aurora Box, they were filled with a new confidence. As they arrived, Troy could only hope that the fact he hadn't seen Bigs and Bluefur in his dreams of the coming war was an indication they would be neutralised by then. Of course, he was also aware that while a lot of things in his dreams had come to pass, it didn't necessarily stand as a guarantee that was the way things would be. After all, if he walked into traffic on the interstate, he was pretty confident no amount of semi-prophetic dreams would save him.

"What are they doing?" Emma asked, as they saw Bigs standing on some form of turntable. Bluefur was spinning him around and around quickly, leaving them somewhat confused.

"Is he standing on the Aurora Box?" Noah asked. Suddenly, little slits seemed to open up in Bigs' flesh, and purple goo started to fly out in all directions. They saw a massive gob of it heading straight for them. "Look out!"

They all dived to the ground, narrowly the goo, which started to give off an ominous, thin vapour. Jake was closest to a patch of it, and started coughing, covering his face with his sleeve.

"Man, this stuff reeks!" He exclaimed.

"Don't let it touch you!" Noah called out.

"Yeah, because that was the first thing I really wanted to do." Jordan said sarcastically. "Touch the stinky, disgusting crap the evil mutants are throwing at us. After that I thought I'd take a bath in fertiliser..."

"It looks like its toxic." Noah replied, ignoring Jordan's sarcasm.

"The suits will protect us." Troy stated, more as a way of convincing himself than the others. They knew that some of the Mutant's powers gave them deadly weapons that the suits barely protected them from. Bigs was already more powerful than most mutants, backed up by the Aurora Box...He shuddered to think what his goo would do to them. Frankly, if he could help it, he had no intention of finding out.

Jordan pulled out his Robo Blaster, and aimed at a patch of the goo that was in his way. Noah reached out for him.

"Jordan don't..." He was too late, as Jordan fired, the goo spread even further, splattering in several directions. Noah just sighed and looked at him. "Really?"

"OK, so that didn't work." Jordan replied.

"No, no it didn't." Noah sighed. "Fortunately, all you did was spread it around. We have no idea what that stuff is. What if it was flammable?"

"I...hadn't thought of that." Jordan said a little sheepishly, realising Noah had a point. Without knowing what it was, thinking about it now, shooting it was a pretty dumb thing to do. He had no idea what would happen.

"You don't need to worry, it isn't flammable." Bigs assured them as he jumped off the Aurora Box and the mutants faced them. "I was just spreading around some toxic waste."

"He was just making this city a little more hospitable to the rest of our kind." Bluefur assured them. "It emits fumes which are toxic to humans, but not to us mutants. When we destroy you, the city will be ours; the waste will take care of the rest of the city, leaving it ripe for the taking. Then all of our kind you have destroyed will be avenged, and we can work on ridding the world of the rest of you."

"You don't need to do this!" Emma yelled at them. "We don't need to fight anymore! My friend Noah, he's found a way to turn you all back!"

"Yeah, and it'll neutralise the waste that made you too." Noah chipped in, seeing that Emma was trying to find a way to ensure they didn't have to fight. Maybe if he could convince them he really WAS able to right all the wrongs done to them by humans, they would be convinced to leave the city alone. "I have the formula ready; we're just waiting for a delivery system..."

"FORMULA!" Bluefur roared in fury, shaking the whole street, simply with the strength of his voice. The Rangers all gulped. "YOU WANT TO POISON US WITH MORE CHEMICALS?"

"Uh...that doesn't sound good." Jake remarked. "Noah...what's your plan now?"

"Defer to the leader?" Noah suggested as Bigs and Bluefur rushed towards them.

"We tried the peaceful approach." Troy announced. "Gia, Jake, you're with me. Emma, Noah, Jordan...deal with Bigs."

"Why are we getting the big one?" Jake asked.

"Because Bigs creates the slime, and we all have melee weapons!" Troy reminded him. "I'd prefer it if we didn't have to get too close to Bigs. We still don't know what this crap will do to us."

They understood the logic in Troy's plan, but that didn't mean that it wasn't daunting, running headlong at one of the most powerful opponents they had ever faced. Bluefur's strength was incredible before, but now, when he hit them, it felt like the suits really were made of Spandex. They knew that they were still protected, probably the only reason every bone in their bodies didn't shatter the second he hit them. Troy grabbed his mace, only to be flipped overhead. It was only his extensive training that allowed him to twist in the air and score a return slash.

He allowed himself a look over to the others. Jordan took a hard hit from Bigs' staff, while Noah and Emma launched themselves in the air, firing their weapons. He seemed to splatter into a fine paste on the ground, but as it oozed quickly across the ground, reforming beside Bluefur, Troy realised that the attack had barely affected him.

"You think you're beating us, but those blasts just make me give off more fumes." He told them in a gleeful chuckle. "You're just speeding up the demise of your city."

"Then lets burn off those fumes." Noah suggested as they assembled the Megaforce Blaster.

"Oh, so YOU'RE allowed to just blast the steaming slime?" Jordan asked.

"Well, I...but...SHUT UP!" Noah complained. Jordan just stood back.

"Dynamic Victory Charge!" They chorused as they fired. Bigs and Bluefur were engulfed in a massive fireball. Troy just shouldered the massive weapon, staring at the flames.

"Is...is that it?" Noah asked. "Did we do it?"

"I think that's a little hopeful." Jake replied. "I've seen this way too many times. This time, I want to see mutant corpses. That's the only thing that'll convince me."

Troy just continued to stare into the flames, waiting for them to die down. He was with Jake on this one, he knew that it was unlikely Bigs and Bluefur would be destroyed by that blast, and wanted to confirm what state they were in. He needed to know if they had to finish them off.

Just then, purple goo flew out of the flames, and completely enveloped all of them, binding them all together.

"Batter up!" Bluefur called out as he ran out of the flames, hitting the team with his club in a massive double-handed swing. They all scattered onto the ground, lying prone as Bigs pulled himself together.

"Nicely done sir." He replied. "Allow me!"

He fired a series of sparks at the Rangers, which exploded, knocking the wind out of them, leaving them struggling to get to their feet.

"Give it up! The power of the Aurora Box has made us indestructible!" Bluefur snarled. "We'll make it quick!"

"My slime is already spreading throughout the city!" Bigs taunted them. "You can't be everywhere at once, but my slime can! That's the beauty of it!"

"You guys...stink!" Gia yelled at them. Jake just looked at her.

"Really?" He asked.

"My head hurts too much to think of anything clever, give me a break." Gia grumbled. "I'm seeing three of them!"

"I've got an idea." Jordan stated, sliding a card into his Robo Morpher as Bigs spread his slime over a radio mast. Jordan aimed his morpher, at which the slime started to be coated in a thick shell of ice, halting its process. "If fire doesn't work, maybe we go the opposite way."

"You may have halted it, but the ice will melt!" Bluefur snapped angrily, pounding his mace on the ground.

"Then we'll just have to take you out before then!" Troy responded.

"Not likely!" Bigs answered as he held a rod in each hand. He bent over backwards in front of Bluefur, who just aimed him at them. "Aurora Blast!"

Jordan watched the blast coming straight for them, and launched himself forwards, throwing himself into the beam's path. He sparked, and fell over backwards before them. As the other Rangers surrounded him, they looked for Bigs and Bluefur, but they had taken the opportunity to leave.

"Jordan...Jordan, speak to us!" Gia called out. "Jordan..."

"I'll be fine once you stop shaking me." He responded, looking up at this team. The display in his visor flashed up a warning. He had diverted all his power into his defences to protect the others. It was a minor miracle he survived the blast, but now his power was down to only 3 percent. "The armour took a pretty drastic hit."

"The slime's frozen for now, but it won't buy us much time. We need to regroup." Troy told the others, pulling out his morpher. "Gosei, bring us back to the Command Centre."

With that, they disappeared in a flash of light.

Over at Cerberus Security's offices, Eric was making his rounds of the building. The city had called a state of emergency, meaning everyone was advised not to go outside for any reason. Although some people would probably get the idea to try and evacuate the city, previous experience had taught the authorities that in the midst of a major monster attack, having dozens of panicking motorists trying to flee the city was not exactly helpful. More often than not, the inevitable road accidents in the scramble to leave before the freeways were shut off just created more casualties for the hospitals to deal with.

He got to the admin office, finding Louise checking her phone. He came to her side.

"Gia said she's fine." She assured him. "She said they had study hall first period, so they went somewhere to work on ideas for their campaign. They're holed up safely; they're nowhere near the city."

"I contacted Wayne, he and Julie are fine." He told her. Wayne was spending a lot of time at home over the last few months. Since his son Mikey, better known to the city as Spider, was revealed as the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks in the city, he had made a point of spending a lot of time at home with his daughter. Even before Mikey's escape, he couldn't help but blame himself for everything that had happened. Between being a partner, and Eric's best friend, he'd been given a lot of latitude all things considered. After Mike had escaped though, he had just seemed to vanish off the face of the Earth. Eric understood his need to look after his family. "They're holed up in their panic room."

"He had a panic room built?" Louise asked him. Eric just nodded. "You Cerberus guys are nothing if not prepared."

"He had it built before all the monster attacks actually." Eric informed her. "You probably noticed, a lot of guys don't really like us all that much. A lot of us have such precautions at home."

"Do you have a panic room?" She asked him.

"It's in the basement." He told her matter-of-factly. "If the girls were at home, they'd be able to stay there for a month without having to worry."

"You're really going to have to show me that some time." She answered. Just then, they heard raindrops hitting the windows. Eric looked out, seeing massive, dark clouds covering the sky, and torrential rain coming down.

"Well, at least we know they won't get caught in that." Louise told him. Eric just tapped her shoulder and pointed to the radio mast, which was visible in the distance.

"The radio reports said the Rangers froze the waste to halt its progress." He reminded her. "The rain..."

"The rain will cause it to thaw out faster." Louise surmised. She just looked to him. "Do you have a panic room in here?"

"I was hoping to not have to use it." Eric told her in a sigh. He then turned to the rest of the office.

"Eddie, get on the announce system, instruct everyone to assemble in the lobby." Eric stated, pulling out a keycard. "Alright, everyone follow us to the lobby. Don't stop for bags or personal items; just make your way down in a calm and orderly manner."

Back at the Command Centre, the Rangers got Jordan back, helping him onto a workbench.

"You're going to need to recall your armour." Emma told him. "There's not much we can do to check on you until you do."

Jordan recalled his armour as he lay down gingerly.

"Guys...I'm fine, really." He said through gritted teeth as he lay down. Spider was hanging around in the background, watching them.

"Where does it hurt?" Noah asked.

"Tell you what; I'll save time by telling you what doesn't hurt." Jordan joked feebly. "There's a spot on my left ankle that's holding up OK."

"That was a pretty brave thing you did." Troy complimented him. "Not too bright, but brave."

"Better one of us is down than all of us right?" Jordan stated. "Just...let me rest up a little. I'll be back in the game..."

Just then, the alarm went off. The Rangers all rushed to a viewing screen, brushing Spider aside.

Bigs and Bluefur had returned. They could see the torrential downpour in the city, and could see that the ice on the slime was melting. Troy started to consider their options. Unfortunately, there weren't many.

"It looks like the time Jordan's ice card provided just expired." He told the others. "We need to go back out there."

"So much for resting up." Jordan grumbled as he started to struggle off the bench.

"Wait...he's going back out there?" Spider asked incredulously. "Seriously? You were carried back in here! You weren't even standing..."

"And your point is?" Jordan asked. "I thought you were the big bad eco terrorist."

"I prefer the term..."

"I really don't care what you prefer." Jordan cut him off.

"None of us do." Gia said, getting in Spider's face. "The second you start putting bombs around the place to make a political point, you're just a scumbag in my opinion."

"You don't know..."

"I know that a man who's done nothing but help me nearly died because of you." Gia stated angrily. "I also know that the only reason you're still here, is because we've not had time to do anything with you. You aren't a part of this, so stay out of it."

"Gia." Troy called to her. "There are more important things right now."

Gia just went back to the rest of the team as Jordan finally managed to sit up.

"Jordan, you're staying here." Troy continued.

"But..."

"We'll call if we need you. For now...rest up. We'll need you as close to full strength as we can get." Troy carried on. "Tensou, how's the project coming?"

He was answered as more parts flew out of the corner, including a very large, complicated looking device that looked a little like a car engine. He just sighed.

"Never mind, just keep us posted." Troy told him. "This time, Ultra Mode. They're too powerful for us to take any chances."

With that, they slammed their cards into their morphers, disappearing again. Jordan just lay back, keeping an eye on the screen. He wanted more than anything to be by their side where he could help, but for now, all he could do was watch and hope they didn't get into too much trouble before they could help.

Back in the city, the Rangers arrived to find Bigs and Bluefur relishing their destruction. Bluefur turned to see them arriving.

"I guess your friend had better things to do." Bluefur stated. "I guess two embarrassing defeats is his limit."

"Jordan's worth a million of you!" Emma yelled at him.

"Well, now he's not here to take the hits for you, let's see how you deal with this." Bigs said as he bent over backwards. Bluefur took up his position.

"Great...this again." Jake grumbled, looking to Gia. She just nodded in understanding.

"Aurora Blast!" Bigs yelled as he fired another blast. This time, they brought up a wall of solid rock between them and the Rangers. It took the blast, but left Gia and Jake lying on the ground. Jake was about to get up, but Gia put a hand on his arm.

"If we get up, he'll just do it again." She told him. "I've got an idea."

She gave Troy a signal to indicate they were alright. He saw her taking out a power card, and realised her plan.

"Let's switch it up." Troy stated. He, Noah and Emma all ran far out to the left. Bigs aimed at them, hoping to take them down.

As he started to power up, Gia put her plan into action. She and Jake got to their knees, and slammed their quake cards into their morphers. Slamming their hands into the ground, they sent up large parts of the street, causing Bigs and Bluefur to tumble, and Bigs to unleash his blast harmlessly into the sky.

"Alright, while they're stunned." Troy ordered them. "The slime's the most immediate threat, target Bigs!"

"Ultimate Victory Charge!" They called out. They launched their attack, sending Bluefur tumbling, his fur smoking from the blast, but he could only watch as Bigs completely evaporated.

"We got him!" Noah said with a smile.

"Um...guys, doesn't everything a monster's done normally disappear when we toast them?" Jake asked. "So...why is there slime still everywhere?"

"Bigs!" Bluefur called out.

"I'm in here; I'm in the Aurora Box!" They heard Bigs' voice echoing. "Its power saved me!"

Bluefur decided not to take any chances. Picking up the Aurora Box, he used its power to disappear, leaving the Rangers inside.

"OK, so we didn't destroy Bigs?" Jake asked.

"It doesn't seem like it." Gia answered. "At least he's trapped in the box now. He's not exactly going to be much of a threat."

"Unless he pulls an Obi-Wan." Noah replied. They all just looked at him. "You know...he got more powerful when he was struck down?"

"Why do you have to give us nightmares like that?" Jake asked him. "Why do you look for the worst case scenario?"

"I think in this case, that's what we have to do." Troy replied. "Until Bluefur comes back, and we can confirm both of them are gone for good, we need to assume we're not done."

"Besides, the city's still on lockdown." Emma replied. "It's not like we can go home until the authorities end the lockdown."

"Then I guess it's a sleepover at the Command Centre." Jake stated. With that, they all disappeared.

Later that night, after the city was cloaked in darkness, Bluefur made his way to the Cerberus Security building, the tallest building in the city. Holding the Aurora Box in his hands, he just smiled.

"The Rangers think they've destroyed you Bigs, but they couldn't be more wrong." He stated. "They have no idea what you're capable of in your awesome new form."

He threw the Aurora Box, which grew to a huge size, and landed on top of it, covering the entire top of the building.

"Come morning, they're in for a huge surprise!" He called out as he walked away.


	12. The End of the Toxic Mutants

By the time morning came around, the Rangers were all waking up after a rather less than restful sleep in the Command Centre. Since they had been given their responsibilities as Rangers, they'd had to make more than a few sacrifices in their lives. The occasional sleepover in the Command Centre was just one of those sacrifices.

Emma was handing out bowls of cereal, which they all gratefully received, having not eaten since the previous night. Gosei always made sure that he had provisions when they stayed so that they would be strong enough when they were due to go back into the field. She handed a bowl to Spider, not even looking at him. He just looked to the food in the bowl, and then to her.

"I'm vegan, remember?" He snorted. "I can't eat this."

"I don't think the vegan police are going to mind one offence." She replied sarcastically. "If you really want, feel free to find something else to eat..."

He just looked around the walls, realising that there wasn't much in the way of vegetation inside the cave. Indeed, there was NO vegetation inside, and it occurred to him that he didn't actually know the way out of the cave. He just sighed and reluctantly started eating.

As Emma sat with Gia, who was e-mailing Cat to let her know that she was alright, she just gave Spider some dark glares. Gia just pressed the send command, and looked to her.

"He's seriously complaining that we're feeding him?" Gia asked. "It's not like he's a guest here."

"I don't care what we have to do, as long as I don't have to see him anymore." Emma grumbled. Gia just nodded.

"What galls me is he expects us to let him off Scot free after what he did." Gia replied. "Any time I look at him, all I can think about is seeing Ernie..."

"I don't know what we're going to do." Emma interrupted her. "But I really don't see how we can do anything other than meet his demands."

"That's pretty much what I'm banking on." Spider called out from where he was sitting. Gia just looked annoyed.

"This is a private conversation." Gia told him. "Besides, what right do you have to make demands after what you did?"

"Hey, I was just doing what you guys do." He stated. "I was fighting for the Earth."

"You're kidding right?" Gia asked incredulously. "You seriously equate what you did with us fighting monsters that came here specifically to destroy the Earth?"

"Pretty much." He replied arrogantly. "Queen's old plant was responsible for the mutants. His new plant isn't much better..."

"You put nail bombs in public places." Emma pointed out. "To distract people while you planted a bomb in the plant. People could have been killed! Dozens of people were hurt! Kids..."

"You can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs." He answered. "I was just fighting..."

"Yeah, you were real brave in your fight." Jordan responded, pulling himself up off his bench. He made his way over. "You bombed innocent people. You planted bombs so you didn't even have to be there when they went off."

"I..."

"It's easy to fight the good fight when you don't have to face your victims, when you don't give them the chance to fight back." Jordan replied. "Now, you don't even want to face up to the responsibility of your actions."

"You think I'm going to go back and sit in a cell if I don't have to?" He asked them.

"No, but we do think maybe you should think about someone other than yourself." Emma answered. "What if we do set you up in another country? What do you think your dad or your sister will feel like?"

"My dad..."

"And your sister!" Emma reiterated. "Did you even think about them at all? According to dad, Wayne, your dad, barely comes in three days a week now, he's in bits!"

Before he could respond, the alarm went off again. Troy and Noah were monitoring the screens.

"It looks like Bluefur's back." Noah stated. "It looks like...he's at your dad's building."

Emma just looked horrified at the thought. She made her way over, looking at the screen.

"What's that on the top of it?" Emma asked. "Is it just me or...is that the Aurora Box?"

"I don't like the looks of this." Troy stated. "Jordan..."

"If you say I'm sitting out, save your breath." Jordan told them, giving Spider a hard glare. "Unlike others, I follow through when I say I'm fighting for what I believe in."

"Tensou says he's almost done with his project." Jake informed them. "He just needs time."

"Then let's go and buy him some." Troy replied. As they morphed and left the Command Centre, Spider was left alone once more. Just then, he heard a loud hissing sound. He turned around slowly to see jets of vapour escaping from around the edges of Gosei's statue on the wall. He approached in awe as it started to open up.

The Rangers arrived at the foot of the Cerberus Securities building, finding Bluefur waiting for them. He confronted them, his mace in his hand, ready for action.

"Give it up Bluefur." Troy stated. "We've already destroyed Bigs; we don't have to destroy you too!"

"We weren't kidding about turning you back." Noah stated. "We can fix a lot of the damage to your homes, turn you back to normal...if we can't repair all the damage, we can at least find somewhere less polluted for you..."

"Why should I subject myself to any more of your evil science?" Bluefur roared. "As for Bigs, you couldn't be more wrong about him. Destroying him has just made him all the more powerful!"

Jake just turned to Noah, placing his hands on his hips, and glared at him, remembering him talking about this possibility.

"Dude, he pulled an Obi-Wan?" He asked. "Why do you always have to be right when you predict that stuff?"

A large amount of purple goo ran down from the Aurora Box on top of the Cerberus building, and a huge pair of eyes that they recognised as Bigs' opened up in it. They heard his voice.

"I now have all the power I need to cover the whole world in my toxic slime!" Bigs told them. "Let's see how you humans like it, when it's your world that becomes a toxic wasteland! Only we'll make sure none of you live long enough to mutate to survive in our new world! We'll make the Earth a paradise for our kind!"

"Right, same as before. Concentrate on Bigs. He's the main threat." Troy told them. Just then, he felt a hand across his chest, and looked to see Jordan stepping forward.

"You guys deal with Bigs." He told them. "The big guy and I have an old score to settle."

"Jordan..."

"I'll be fine, trust me." Jordan interrupted Gia. She just nodded in response.

"Alright guys, there are people in there." Troy told them. "It looks like we're taking him out from the inside."

"We've been in the building a million times. We know it inside and out." Gia told Troy.

"Alright, the girls are taking point." He replied as they ran off. Jordan and Bluefur just faced off against each other.

"So, are you going to try and convince me to stand down and wait for you to undo all the harm you've done?" Bluefur asked him.

"No, I was actually kind of thinking of just beating you senseless." Jordan answered as they ran at each other, yelling battle cries.

Inside the building, the Rangers arrived to find themselves in the parking complex.

"Alright, where do we go from here?" Jake asked.

"The box is on the top floor." Gia told them. "It looks like Mr Goodall's already got everyone to the panic room in the basement. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say Bigs is up in the box."

"Or...maybe he came to meet us." Troy replied, seeing him appearing a little way off. As Troy rushed forward and swung his Dragon Sword, he was astounded as he simply disappeared.

"What gives?" He asked. They then saw him appearing in the elevator, only for the doors to close. When they re-opened, he was gone.

"I think he's leading us to him." Troy told them.

"I'm sorry, but I've seen these movies." Noah told them. "Going in an elevator is always a trap."

He was out-voted though, as the others just ran inside. Jake just dragged him inside, at which the doors closed.

"Come on dude, do you know how tall this building is?" Jake asked him.

"127 floors." Emma answered with a little smile. "The view from dad's office is amazing."

"Well, maybe we'll get a chance to appreciate it." Troy replied. Suddenly, the room went completely dark. The elevator disappeared, leaving them in a seemingly endless, completely dark void. Jake just sighed and looked to Noah.

"OK, from now on, I think we should really listen to him." He said sarcastically.

"Alright, we need to be ready for anything." Troy told them as they powered up into Ultra Mode. Just as he did this, Bigs appeared again.

"You're in my domain now." He told them. "In here, I'm in control!"

With that, tentacles appeared, seemingly from nowhere and trapped all of the Rangers. They struggled against their bonds, but they wouldn't budge. As Bigs concentrated, they felt a painful charge passing through them.

"Give it up Rangers; this is one trap you'll never escape!" He taunted them.

Meanwhile, outside, Jordan and Bluefur were in the fight of their lives. Although Bluefur was now far more powerful than he had been in their previous battles, Jordan had learned a lot in his time on the team, and found himself able to match Bluefur through a combination of his speed, and his technique.

He staggered Bluefur with a strike from his sword, opening up a wound in his chest. He just smiled as Bluefur roared in anger.

"I don't care if I have to take you a little piece at a time." He stated. He had noticed a fatal flaw in Bluefur, one that he had to admit had been one of his own failings. He let his frustration get the better of him. His anger was explosive, and also uncontrolled. When his anger got the better of him, he would attack with little thought or direction. It was a risky plan, given Bluefur's power, but he knew as long as he could keep one step ahead of him, he could use his lack of focus to force him off balance, and force him to make mistakes. "I'll take you out just the same!"

"Bigs won't need to destroy you!" He growled, swinging for Jordan. "By the time I'm finished with you, the worms won't even need to chew!"

Jordan avoided his next attack, taking a couple of swiped for his exposed shoulder. As Jordan tried to press the advantage though, Bluefur caught him with a backhanded swipe, which sent him flying over the edge of a balcony. He landed on the ground several feet below, and started to move slowly.

"OK, maybe my dad has a point...I totally left my head exposed on that strike." Jordan grumbled. He looked up in time to see Bluefur leaping off the balcony, his mace speeding towards him. He knew he had nowhere near enough time to move. "OK, this is going to hurt."

Back in the Aurora Box, the Rangers were still at the mercy of Bigs' power. Troy only just managed to get a hand free, and cut down the tentacles holding him. He moved quickly as Bigs tried to blast him, cutting his friends free.

"Alright guys, we might not get another chance. Let's give it everything we've got!" Troy told them.

"Ultimate Victory Charge!" They chorused together, unleashing their power. Bigs screamed in agony, before disintegrating into nothing. This time though, they could all feel a significant drop in power in the area. This time, they knew he was gone for good.

"OK we've dealt with Bigs." Jake stated. "But...we're still in here."

"Does anyone know a way out?" Emma asked them.

"I'm open to suggestions." Noah replied.

Outside the building, Jordan was on the back foot, taking a horrendous beating from Bluefur after his one mistake. The downside of his plan to enrage Bluefur was that his attacks were unrelenting. He finally felt Bluefur stopping, and looked up, seeing him staring at the building. The Aurora Box was still there, but Bigs' face was gone. He just heard Bluefur roaring. As he stomped his foot, the entire area shook.

"OK, now he's definitely mad." Jordan stated as he got to his feet. As Bluefur ran to the attack once more, Jordan knew he wouldn't get another chance. He waited until Bluefur was right on top of him, before deflecting his charge, sending him face-first into a building. He quickly assembled his Vulcan Blaster and took aim.

"Knight Dynamic!" He called out, firing his shot. Bluefur fell to the ground, and Jordan watched for a moment, hoping that it was over. Unfortunately, Bluefur reached out for the Aurora Box, summoning its power. Before he could do anything, Bluefur was growing.

"OK guys, now would be a REALLY good time to come back." Jordan stated as he summoned his Megazord.

Back in the Command Centre, Tensou had finally completed his task. He rushed into the centre of the Command Centre.

"Gosei, Gosei, its finally ready!" He screeched out. As he got there though, he just saw the opening in the wall. "Gosei?"

He didn't get an answer though. He didn't know what was going on. Spider was gone, and so was Gosei. He hadn't left his containment unit in many years. He couldn't understand why he would choose now of all times to risk leaving. Realising he was now the only one left to help the Rangers, he went to the controls.

"Rangers, I've finished the new project." Tensou told them. "Summon your Ultra Zords."

"Tensou, what...?"

"Trust me, you'll like it." Tensou assured them. With that, he completed the command code. The entire Command Centre started to shake. It wasn't long before it appeared inside the Aurora Box.

"The Command Centre?" Troy asked. "Since when does it fly?"

"It's a space ship now!" Noah said with a smile. Just then, they saw their Ultra Zords start to glow and fly out of their swords. "Wait, what's happening?"

The Zords flew into sections of the ship, forming a face that slightly resembled the one Gosei always used. Before their eyes, it opened up.

"Rangers, get in!" Tensou called to them. In the absence of another plan, they leapt inside, finding themselves at the controls of their new ship.

"This is what you've been working on?" Jake asked. "SWEET!"

"Where's Gosei?" Noah asked. "Where's Spider for that matter?"

"We can worry about details later." Troy replied. "For now, let's get out of here. I'm sure Jordan would appreciate some help."

Out in the real world, Jordan's megazord was not faring well against the newly empowered Bluefur. Bluefur connected with a strike that took the last of the power from his Zords, forcing him back to his Robo Knight form. He looked up to see Bluefur standing over him. He covered up as Bluefur raised his foot, preparing to bring it down on top of him.

He stopped when the Aurora Box exploded, and the Rangers' new ship flew out of it.

"The Aurora Box, but how could you destroy it?" He screamed. The Rangers only answered with a hail of fire from the ship.

"Check this out, there are conversion controls." Troy stated. "Tensou, does this thing morph?"

"Say hello to the Gosei Ultimate Megazord!" Tensou confirmed as he activated the command.

"Another Megazord?" Bluefur called out, feeling his power leaving him. With the Aurora Box gone, he was losing power quickly. He came for them, only to have his weapon sliced in half by their swords.

"Alright, let's see what this thing can do." Troy stated. "Victory Charge!"

The chest opened up, bombarding Bluefur with lasers. They watched as he shrunk back to normal size.

"I have one last surprise Rangers." Tensou told them. "I finished the delivery system."

They watched as a huge cloud of mist fanned out from the Megazord in all directions. They sent the Zord back to base as they headed down onto the street to check on Jordan. The vapour was spreading into the wind, and turning into a liquid form that rained down, drenching the streets. They knew that the chemicals would have no effect on them, and were only concerned with finding Jordan.

"Jordan...are you...?"

"I'll be fine." Jordan told them. "But...check that out. You're not going to believe this."

They all looked to where he was pointing, seeing a large, furred creature lying on the ground. As they approached slowly, Noah had to squint.

"Is that...is that...Bigfoot?" He asked.

"I can't believe it. He was real all along." Emma gasped.

"Everyone's still in hiding, no one's seen him." Jake chipped in. "No one's going to believe us. Unless..."

"Jake, what are you thinking?" Gia asked him.

"Come on, a real life Bigfoot!" He told her. "Imagine what any wildlife park would pay to have it! We'd be rich!"

"Is it still alive?" Emma asked. Jordan just nodded.

"It's breathing." He assured her. "I guess all that fighting really tuckered him out."

"We can't leave him here." Emma told them. "He isn't safe here."

"So let's take him to the wildlife park." Jake suggested again. "He'll have food; he'll be taken care of..."

"Do you really think they'd let him just sit in a wildlife park?" Gia asked him. "He's possibly the only one of his kind in existence. They'd take him to a lab for sure."

"Well, we can't leave him here." Emma repeated. "Anyone that finds him will..."

She looked to the others and smiled.

"I think I have the perfect solution." Emma replied.


	13. Two Problems Two Solutions

As Troy, Noah, Jake, Jordan and Gia all teleported into the Command Centre after the battle, they found Tensou waiting for them. He had brought the command Ship back after the battle, back to its hiding place in the mountain once more. As they got there, he whizzed around them excitedly.

"Tensou, this was your project? You had a new Zord in the making?" Jake asked him with a smile. "When were you going to let us in on that?"

"The entire mountain was built around the ship Zordon used to come to Earth in the first place." Tensou told them. "I knew re-purposing it was an ambitious project. I wasn't sure how it would work without a field test..."

"Well, I'd say it ranks as a definite A+." Noah told him, patting the little robot's head. "And you built in that delivery system."

"It wasn't much really." Tensou told them. "It was Noah that created the retro-mutagen..."

"But you figured out how to make dispersing it over an area while still being effective." Gia reminded him. "Good work little guy."

As they started to assemble around Tensou to congratulate him, Jordan hung back a little. He was looking to the rear wall, and he noticed something the others hadn't yet. He tapped Troy on the shoulder.

"Tensou...while we're all talking about new developments...what's up with that?" He asked. Troy and the others all turned to see what he was talking about, only to see a hole in the wall where Gosei was usually seen. The face that he spoke through had opened out, leaving darkness behind it. They all approached, but couldn't see far inside. "Where's Gosei?"

"I didn't think he could leave." Noah remarked.

"He used to be able to." Jordan informed them. "But...I didn't think he could after the war..."

"Well, where did he go?" Jake asked. "I mean, where does a guy go after spending a few years in a wall? Why hasn't he left until now?"

"Does anyone else notice who else is missing?" Gia asked them. "Where's Emma? Or Spider?"

"Well, I can't tell you about Spider." Troy told them, accessing the computer. "But we can clear up one mystery. According to the computer...Emma's right outside."

"So, what...?"

"It'll be a while until the lockdown's called off, so let's use this time productively." Troy instructed them. "Noah, check out the area around the city, see how the retro-mutagen's working. If there are any mutants left, we should know about it. Jake, Jordan, start scanning to see if you can find any sign of Spider or Gosei."

He didn't bother giving Gia a task, he knew it was pointless. Just like him, there was only one thing she wanted to so right now.

It took them a little while to find Emma, but after getting out of the cave, they found her on a rocky ledge, a little way from the entrance. As they approached, Emma just looked to them and indicated to them to be quiet, before gesturing them closer. Emma, as a result of all her years photographing nature was a gifted tracker, and was extremely good at stalking and getting close to animals to get the desired shots. As they looked down into a clearing in the trees beneath them, they saw a large, furred shape, lying unmoving.

"This was your idea?" Gia asked. Emma just nodded.

"No one knows where this island is. It doesn't appear on any map or scans." She reminded them. "It's a great habitat, plenty of food and shelter, no one to bother him...I figured here, he wouldn't be picked up by someone and put in a lab or something."

"So...Bluefur's going to live here now? Close to our base?" Gia asked.

"He isn't Bluefur anymore is he?" Emma reminded her, taking a few pictures with her camera. "Bigfoot's a legend, like the Loch Ness monster...maybe there are some legends that should stay that way. Maybe it's best if he isn't discovered."

"So you're taking photos?" Troy teased her. Emma just wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Only for my own private collection." She told him, kissing him softly. "Plenty of people have out-of-focus pictures of Bigfoot. I can't pass up the opportunity to be the only one to have a clear shot of him can I? I'll just keep it under wraps. I think it'll be more special if it's just for us don't you think?"

"You never cease to amaze me." Gia replied with a shake of the head. "Troy?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have Tensou keep track of him, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Troy replied. As they continued to watch, they saw the creature start to stir, and get up. It looked around, disorientated for a moment, like it didn't know where it was, but eventually headed off into the woods. Troy held Emma closely. They were quite possibly three of the only people who had ever genuinely seen the creature, and yet for them it was hardly the most bizarre thing they had seen. It didn't make it any less special.

Elsewhere in the city, at a Juvenile Detention facility, the guards were doing some rounds. Although the battle hadn't come near them, they had seen it as prudent to lock down the facility, meaning all the inmates were in their cells. As one of them was walking past the exercise yard, he was bowled over as a bright flash flooded the area.

He took a moment to recover as he scrambled towards a wall. In the centre of the yard, he could see a large, cloaked figure. Completely concealed in a voluminous white cloak, with a hood pulled up, all that could be seen were black boots, and black, armoured gauntlets. He needed to strain his eyes to see, but eventually he could see that he was holding someone else in his hand, a kid who was cowering on the ground. Fearing that it was one of the inmates, especially after Vrak's attacks all those months ago, the guard hit an alarm button, sounding it.

"Alright pal, put the kid down!" The guard managed to rush out, drawing his pistol and levelling it at him. The figure didn't even look at him. The guard fired a warning shot to make a point. "I'm not kidding pal, put the kid down!"

"You're welcome to him." The figure responded, dumping the kid on the ground. The terrified kid curled up into a foetal ball, shaking uncontrollably. As the figure started to walk away, the guard opened the gate. Others lined the walls, aiming at him.

"Not another step asshole!" The guard warned him. "You're going nowhere until..."

Without another word, a bright flash of light flooded the area. When the guards recovered their vision, he was gone, just as mysteriously as he had arrived. One of the guards ran over, checking on the figure on the ground.

"Hey kid, it's OK he's gone." The guard stated, putting a hand on his shoulder. It was only as he tried to communicate with him, he got a look at the kid's face. "Uh...boss, you're not going to believe this."

As the chief guard came over, he looked to the quivering form on the ground.

"Spider?" He asked. "I...I thought he'd skipped town months ago!"

"We all did." The guard responded. He looked to Spider as a few of the guards helped him sit up. "Spider, what happened? Who was that?"

Spider just stared at them, his flesh pale, like it was almost completely lifeless. His eyes were wide, like saucers, and clearly full of terror. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.

"Kid, he's gone, he can't hurt you." The guard pressed on. "Where were you? Who is that guy?"

He just shook his head, refusing to answer.

"Spider, he's gone..."

"You can't protect me." He finally stammered, wrapping his arms around himself. "I'm nothing...he said it...compared to his mission...one life...It's meaningless..."

"Spider!"

But by now, he was just babbling completely incoherently. The chief guard just sighed.

"Take him to the hospital wing." He sighed, gesturing to a couple of the guards. "Whatever that guy said or did to him, he's obviously more scared of him than he is of us."

"Sir?" One of the guards asked. "He's...he's a wreck! Whatever that freakshow..."

"Whatever that freakshow did is obviously beyond anything we're qualified to deal with." The chief guard told them. "I have to call the governor and try to figure out what to tell him. Take Spider to the psychiatrists. Let them try and put him back together."

As a couple of the guards carried Spider away, the one who found him just looked horrified. He was no psychiatrist, but he had seen his share of people with troubles, and none of them looked like Spider did. He wasn't sure there was anyone that could put that mess back together.

As Troy, Emma and Gia came back into the Command Centre, Noah approached them.

"I'll have to go out to the plant for some samples to be sure, but the scans look good." He informed them. "As far as I can see, there's no evidence of any mutants in the area. I'd like to take a closer look to be sure though."

"So the Toxic Mutants are really gone?" Emma asked him. "No more mutant corpses?"

"I'd like to check more thoroughly, but I'd say I'm pretty much certain that's the case." Noah assured her with a smile. "So thanks to technology, the mutant problem is over."

"Do remember it was technology that caused it in the first place." Emma shot back. Just then, there was a bright flash in the room. It took a while for their vision to clear. With his vision still blurry, Jordan could only just make out the fuzzy image of a cloaked figure. As he looked around, Jordan could hear heavy footsteps, like the boots were armoured.

The figure looked around, like he was surprised to see the Rangers there, and then headed for the hole in the wall. Jordan only just cleared his vision in time to see the face closing over the entrance.

"Uh...was that...?" Jake started to ask.

"I think that was Gosei." Troy stated. He stepped forward. "Gosei?"

"I have taken care of your problem with Spider." Gosei's voice stated as the statue's eyes lit up. Jake and the others just looked among themselves.

"What did you...?"

"That is none of your concern!" Gosei responded. "You have won a great victory today. Now, you must prepare for future battles."

"Prepare for...?" Jake started to ask incredulously. "We just defeated the last of the Toxic Mutants!"

"Yeah, this has been a seriously screwy day!" Jordan agreed. "I think we're entitled to some answers!"

"You are entitled to what I tell you!" Gosei answered firmly.

"Then why don't you tell us, since when you're able to just get up and go walkabout?" Noah asked him. "And what's up with this mountain Megazord thing? Why didn't you tell us you had another Zord in storage?"

"Everything I do, I do for a reason!" Gosei told them.

"Gosei, we've always taken a lot on faith." Troy told him. "But...don't you think...?"

With that, the eyes on the statue went out. In a bright flash, Troy found himself in a street a little way from his parents' place. He could only presume that his friends had also been sent home. It seemed that Gosei had no intention of answering any more questions tonight.

The following morning, Emma and Gia went down into the kitchen, finding Eric getting ready to head out for work.

"Morning dad." Emma greeted him. "I'm really sorry Gia and I got home late..."

"Just as long as you were safe, that's all I care about." Eric answered. "I'm glad I got everyone into the basement. Did you see that monster used my building?"

"Yeah...we heard about that." Emma told him.

"Personally, I think it looks better without that box thing on top." Gia assured him. Eric just sighed.

"Well, we have a lot of work to catch up on." Eric told them. "I couldn't exactly ask anyone to keep working while they were in the basement."

"I'm sure you'll catch up." Emma told him. "Meanwhile, I have my own catching up to do. The election won't win itself..."

She noticed that her dad was staring at the paper.

"Uh...dad?" Emma asked. "What is it?"

"They...they have Spider." He told her, putting the paper down. He dialled his phone, hoping to catch Wayne. He didn't doubt that he'd know by now, and he was sure that his friend would need his support. Emma and Gia looked at each other, remembering what Gosei had said to them. He had told them he had 'dealt with' Spider, but he hadn't been specific about how. He had teleported them home without answering any questions. They both scrambled for the paper and started reading.

Later, at the school, Jake was in the library, keeping himself busy trying to think of what he would say in the final debate the following day. The polls showed that the gap between the three candidates was closing all the time. Jules was pretty much out of the race, with only 2 percent support, but the top three were getting closer all the time. It seemed that with a day without his dirty tricks, the naturally fickle nature of high school students meant that Mike's lead had slipped back to just 38 percent. Jake was standing at 32, with Emma at 30. He knew that his popularity was giving him a slight edge over Emma, but it was hardly a guarantee. In reality, a day was a long time, and the debate and final statements would be held right before the vote. Realistically, it was anyone's race.

As he tore off another page, Allison arrived, coming over to his table.

"So, the race is nearly over." She commented. Jake just sighed.

"Thank God." He groaned. "I think it was less exhausting when I didn't care if I won."

"It really says a lot about you that you took the race as seriously as you did." She complimented him. "The numbers are all pretty close, you could still win this."

"To be honest, I don't know what's worse, the thought of losing or the thought of winning." Jake grumbled. She just looked confused. "I just want it to be over at this point. I'm starting to feel like I don't know who everyone expects me to be."

"You never used to care about who people expect you to be." She reminded him.

"That was before all of this." Jake responded. "I mean...people expect me to know all the answers. Others keep talking to me expecting me to do 'the right thing' for them..."

"Do you mind if I suggest something?" Allison asked him. He just looked to her and nodded.

"Anything would be appreciated." He said honestly. Allison just smiled.

"It's you people vote for in the end." She replied. "As much as you clean up nicely, the shirt and the cologne really aren't you."

"But the me people know isn't the kind of guy people take seriously." Jake responded. "The stuff I want to do is too important."

"But like I said, it's you they'll vote for." Allison replied. As he was about to answer, Jake suddenly had a brainwave. He smiled as he looked to Allison. He reached across, holding her hand.

"Thanks." He told her. "You've given me an idea."

"Well, I'm glad I could help." She told him.

"So...do you want some coffee or something?" He asked her.

"That sounds good." She answered as they started to leave.

Meanwhile, over at the Juvenile Detention Facility, Wayne was standing in an observation room, when the door opened behind him. Eric came in, showing his pass to the guard in the room.

"Could you give us a minute?" Eric asked. The guard looked between the two men before leaving. Wayne just sighed and turned back to the two-way mirror between them and the room next door.

"Thanks for coming." Wayne told him.

"I had to." Eric answered. "We've been friends too long."

Wayne didn't say anything, just staring through the glass. In the room next door, Spider was sitting on a bed, holding his knees up to his chest, just rocking, not saying a word. Eric saw him, and couldn't believe this was the same guy that had waged a terror campaign on the city, and especially on his family. Spider had targeted Eric in particular, threatening him and his family, keeping him on edge and distracted while he put his plan into action to attack the plant. He had to admit holding no real love for the kid, but he was still his best friend's kid. He was concerned for Wayne.

"How long has he been like this?" Eric asked.

"The doctor said he's been this way since he was brought here." Wayne told him, looking to his son. "Even when he isn't medicated, he's virtually catatonic. The doctors have no idea what's been done to him."

"What's been done to him?" Eric asked. "By...by who?"

"Presumably whoever brought him here." Wayne responded, turning to look at Eric. "We've seen people scared Eric, we saw it all the time back in the unit."

"Wayne..."

"We saw people so scared out of their mind that they all but shut down right there an then." Wayne told him. "When I look at Mikey, I see that same look...but this is so much worse than anything we've seen."

Wayne and Eric both looked back to Mikey, seeing him staring into space.

"I'm here if you need anything." Eric assured him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Take all the time you need."


	14. The New President

By the time Friday morning rolled around, the final day of the election race, there was a distinct buzz in the air. The opinion poll in the Social Hub was showing that out of the four candidates, three of them were very close. Mike had set up more stands to give out his coffee and pastries, and he was flooding the place with flyers. Although he was in the lead, his margin was narrow, and it was clear he was nervous of a last-minute turn around.

As Emma came into the hallway, she got a few wolf-whistles. She was wearing a salmon skirt and blazer, with a white blouse, and high heels. The way she occasionally stumbled as she walked showed she wasn't entirely comfortable with such footwear. She only had the outfit for special occasions at her father's insistence, when hiking high heels were impractical, and in some cases just outright dangerous. It seemed that the other kids approved of the change.

"Hey hey Emma! Love the suit!" Jordan complimented her. "Do you have your camera? I'm sure I could do a great shoot..."

"I think I'll pass." Emma told him, tugging at her blazer. "This is only for today. I feel weird wearing all this stuff."

"It's definitely different." Noah said with a little shrug. "Did you see the getup Mike was wearing? You'd think he was attending the Oscars or something."

"I'll just be glad when all this is over." Emma told them. "Have any of you talked to Uncle since...?"

"When I tried to visit, I just ended up back home." Noah answered. Since the final battle against the Mutants, Gosei had aggressively dismissed the Rangers, teleporting them all home. It seemed that even teleporting back wasn't an option if Noah's word was to be believed. "When I raised Tensou on the communicator, all he said was your new pet's doing well, and that little project of mine...it seems like its still working. No sign of you know what."

"So...they're gone, and the new pet's OK." Gia replied. "But we can't ask him about anything else?"

"Something tells me if Uncle doesn't want to talk to us, he won't." Noah replied. "Why?"

"So...you don't know about Spider?" Emma asked him. They all just looked at her blankly.

"I know he's in Juvie." Troy replied. Emma just sighed.

"He's in their medical wing." Emma told them. "When he's not ranting and raving like a lunatic, he's not saying anything. He's practically catatonic."

"What?" Jordan asked her. "How do you...?"

"My dad is Spider's dad's best friend remember?" Emma replied. "He's been to see Wayne. He said that he's taking all this really hard."

"Poor guy." Noah answered. "I know Spider isn't my favourite person, but seriously...I'd never have wanted anything like that to happen to him. And his dad...he has to be going out of his mind."

"That's what dad said." Emma replied. Just then, the bell rang, and Principal Kwann made her way down the hall.

"I know you all have a lot of responsibilities, but one of those is to your education." She reminded them, gesturing down the hall.

"Principal Kwann." Troy stated. "We were just..."

"Setting a good example for your possible constituents?" She suggested to Emma. "On you go."

As they all left, Trini could only shake her head and smile, thinking of herself and her friends back in the day. Every generation of Rangers was slightly different, but in some ways, a lot of them always looked the same to her.

In the Warstar ship, Vrak was called into Malkor's chamber. He arrived to find his throne missing, and a huge amount of food being piled in by some of his servants.

"You wished to see me My Lord?" He asked, a little curious as to what was going on. He was more than a little concerned that he was calling him to berate him for his most recent failure. Throwing the most powerful mutants available, even with the Aurora Box, hadn't gotten the job done. The Rangers had once again seemed to pull out a new toy at the last moment that had won the day. It was a habit even Vrak was finding irritating, but Malkor...he was close to losing his patience altogether.

"I do Vrak." Malkor told him. "It has occurred to me that every time we face the Rangers, they get more powerful, just like ourselves."

"It seems that way My Lord." Vrak replied.

"The only problem is that their power grows at a rate far greater than our power grows." Malkor said thoughtfully. "It was a mistake to believe that savages like the mutants could get the job done. If we're going to gain the power we need, I feel it is time for me to evolve."

Vrak felt his spirits lifting. He knew enough about the Warstar to know what that meant. Like many insects, sometimes they would enter a cocoon, and hibernate for a period of time while they evolved into a new form. When they emerged, they would be far more powerful than before. It wasn't something undertaken lightly, while they were in the cocoon, they were vulnerable. They were unable to defend themselves.

"I presume you want me to defend your ship." Vrak replied.

"That won't be necessary." Malkor responded. "I think we would be best served lulling the Rangers into a false sense of security. Perhaps if we do nothing, they will believe we have finally given up."

"So...you want to do nothing?" Vrak asked.

"Quite the opposite." Malkor stated. "Why don't you dedicate your time to preparing for our occupation? I'm sure that I'll be looking for somewhere to act as my base of power when I emerge and claim the Earth as my own."

"That is quite a project." Vrak stated. "I will need a few..."

"You will have access to all the means you need." Malkor assured him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have quite a bit of eating to do before I enter my cocoon."

As he left, Vrak just smiled.

"A new base is exactly what I'll need." He replied. "And with Malkor out of the way, I'll have all the time I need to advance my own plans. All going well, he will never have the chance to hatch. The Earth will be mine before he evolves."

Back at the High School, it was coming towards the end of the day. Emma, Mike and Jules were behind the curtain on stage of the main assembly hall, waiting for the final stage of the presidential race to take place.

Gia arrived with Jordan, looking to Emma.

"Any sign of him?" Emma asked. No one had seen Jake. He had disappeared immediately after the debate. With the exception of Jules, who true to form crumbled under the pressure and seemed to add nothing to her credibility. She was currently in the corner, trembling like a leaf.

"We've checked pretty much everywhere." Jordan told her.

"Well, we can't wait any longer." Principal Kwann told them. "If he shows up, he'll be able to give his final address. If not...then he'll have to take his chances."

With that, Gia and Jordan left, leaving the rest of the candidates behind. Trini just looked to Emma.

"I know you're worried, but I'm sure he's fine." She told her. Emma just sighed and nodded, heading to her podium. With that, Trini gestured to the janitor to open the curtains once more. The students were waiting patiently for the poll to open. This year, unlike other years, they were doing the whole thing online. It had been proposed as a way to make the result instantaneous, and also save paper. She went to the microphone.

"Well, the moment of truth is almost upon us, the polls will open shortly." Trini declared. "Now, each of the candidates will take a couple of minutes to make their final statements. Please remain silent while they do. Jules...would you like to begin?"

Jules just looked to the crowd, and murmured something in the microphone. It was a little hard to make out, but by context Emma presumed it was meant to be 'vote for me.'

"Alright...thank you." Trini stated. "Emma, would you like to make a statement?"

Emma stepped up to her podium, and saw that Jake still wasn't there. She took a deep breath, before beginning.

"I could spend this time deriding my opponents, or promising a bunch of stuff that I know I can't deliver. I also won't spend any time claiming I am perfect and haven't made my share of mistakes as you are all aware." Emma told them, looking to Mike. "But I've always prided my campaign on transparency. I won't add any new promises at the last second just to win a couple of extra votes. You all know what I stand for, and that's what you should vote for. I promise to negotiate a new deal for the school vending machine contract to increase revenue. I promise to distribute the school budget more fairly among the arts, the sciences and the other extra-curricular activities. I promise to increase the school's efforts in waste management and recycling, and I promise to distribute more resources to creating school grounds we can all be proud of."

As the students applauded, Trini went back to the microphone. Emma reminded her a lot of herself, with some shades of Kimberly from back in the day. She looked to Mike. "Mike, your final statement?"

"I just want to reiterate what I always have. I'm simply the best man for the job." He told the students. "I'm not going to say the school doesn't have problems, but just think, do we really need a new garden? Do you want to vote for someone who can't even speak in public? Or someone who glosses over the fact that..."

"Mike!" Trini interrupted him in warning. She knew where he was going. He just conceded the point.

"Or you could always vote for someone who clearly has so little interest in your opinion, he hasn't even turned up." He told them. "I say no. Remember who's already done something for you and vote for me."

"Thank you Mike." Trini stated. "Now, your last candidate appears to not be..."

"Sorry I'm late Principal Kwann." Jake called out, arriving in the hall. He came striding through the crowd, having changed out of his shirt and pants, back into his familiar hoodie and jeans. He was carrying a soccer ball as he went to the stage and climbed up onto it. Trini just gestured to the podium.

"OK, alright." She stated. "Better late than never. On you go."

Jake stepped up to the podium, setting the soccer ball aside. He prepared to address the crowd.

"I don't care if I win." Jake began. He got a reaction from that, everyone just stared at him. It was certainly something that no one else had said as part of a campaign. He stepped around the podium, taking the mike with him. "What I mean is, while I think I could do a good job, and I promise I would try, I've figured something out. It really doesn't matter if I win."

He then looked out over the crowd.

"You see, the election, the things we actually do, the promises we make. Those are the things that matter. The causes I've heard, some of those will benefit the school long after we're gone. To put it bluntly, this election is bigger and more important than I'll ever be, than any of us will ever be." He continued. "My main manifesto point, to make things easier for disabled students is going to benefit students for a long time."

He then turned to Emma.

"Emma, your idea of bringing in more money for the school, and the redistribution of the funding is going to benefit the school for years." He stated. "If you promise to enact my policy regarding improvements to disability access, I'll promise to take on those policies of yours."

"I promise." Emma replied, looking impressed. Jake just turned back to the crowd.

"So, rather than convince you I'm the best person, I just urge you to think of the kind of school you want." Jake replied. "Vote well."

"Well that was...interesting. Thank you Jake." Principal Kwann answered. "OK, the polls are open...now."

As she said this, the candidates went into the crowd. Emma went to Jake's side, putting her arm around him.

"Hey, what was that for?" He asked.

"That was pretty amazing what you did there." Emma told him. "I know I'd never have thought of it."

"Well, I guess I'm just more concerned with whether or not the school ends up a better place than if I'm the one doing it." He told her. "I know it'd look good on my CV, but can you imagine me in all those boring meetings?"

"Somehow, I don't think they'd be quite as boring if you were in them." Gia chuckled.

"Wait, something's happening." Troy stated, pointing up to the stage where Principal Kwann was holding a tablet. She checked it, before heading to the microphone.

"Alright, the polls are now closed." She announced. "In order, with a result of 2 percent...Jules."

There was a polite applause, but Jules was nowhere to be found. She had disappeared, probably humiliated after her disastrous performance.

"Poor Jules." Emma stated. "Even I never wanted her to lose that badly."

"With 29 percent, Mike!" She announced. Mike just started ranting about something, and turned to some of his running buddies, screaming something at them. Emma turned to Jake, looking completely delighted.

"Mike's lead slipped!" She shrieked. "It's going to be one of us!"

Jake just held his arm around Emma.

"Well, whatever happens, I think you'd be a great..."

"With 33 percent, Emma!" Trini called out, leaving Jake struck dumb "Meaning that with 36 percent, your winner and new Senior Class President is Jake Holling!"

Jake just stood, unable to say anything. He had to be practically shoved onto the stage by Jordan. Principal Kwann gestured to the podium for him to say something. Jake, for once in his life found it difficult to find something to say.

"Um...thanks for the vote of confidence!" Jake began. "I...um...I don't really know what to say, other than...I'd really appreciate some help in making sure I don't screw up too badly. So...I promise to do my best. Thank you!"

As the students cheered, and Jake made his way back into the crowd, he saw Emma. She was obviously disappointed, but she seemed happy that he had won.

"Emma...I..."

"It's alright. You did really well. Well done." Emma told him humbly. "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright. I guess I was just a little oversensitive." Jake assured her. He saw Principal Kwann approaching. "Principal Kwann...um...I know it's not exactly in the rules or anything..."

"Jake, I think that this election pretty much took the rulebook out back and shot it by this point." Trini chuckled as she looked to him. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just thinking, maybe only one voice isn't the best idea." He suggested. "I got most of my ideas by bouncing them off others and getting suggestions from others...is it possible to have a vice-president or something?"

"I think we can manage that." Trini said, looking impressed. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Well, you're the one with the ideas." Jake said, looking to Emma. "If you don't mind..."

"Hey, I wanted the opportunity to change things right?" Emma asked. "Of course I'll do it."

"Well, that settles it." Trini answered. "Good job Jake. I have a feeling those student-staff consultative meetings will be pretty interesting this year."

"Thanks Principal Kwann." He answered as she left. He then just turned to the others.

"Well, how about celebrating at the Brainfreeze?" Jordan suggested. "The President can pay."

"Aw man...really?" Jake complained as they headed for the door. "I bet President Taylor didn't have to pay for HIS inauguration dinner."

"HOLLING!" He heard the coach yelling. Jake just gestured to the others to go on without him. The coach just smiled.

"Well, that was a hell of a show you put on there Holling! It went down a charm!" He complimented him. "Now you've got the election, you don't have to keep up the show any longer. You can get onto making sure the athletics..."

"I'm not going to sell out coach." Jake told him. "I meant what I said, my policies are too important."

"Holling, I only got you into this election because I thought you knew how to play ball!" The coach protested. "What about the team? Don't they mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, they do actually, but something tells me getting the bus to games won't exactly kill us." Jake replied.

"Well, you can just kiss that Captain's armband goodbye then Holling." He continued.

"Good! I don't deserve it anyway!" Jake told him. "I haven't come up with one play. I'm not great with tactics anyway. I'm happiest just getting told where to be to take my shot. Jordan's the playmaker, I've seen his playbook. He's the one that should be captain."

"But..."

"And if you don't want me to start telling people how you tried to bribe me into making decisions for your benefit, I think you'd best announce Jordan's getting that armband." Jake told him with a smile. "He's the one that deserves it after all."

The coach just looked at him in disgust, and walked away. Jordan came back to see what the holdup was.

"Jake, are you coming?" He asked. "What are you smiling about?"

"Just thinking...maybe this politics thing won't be so bad after all." Jake told him. "Come on, let's get ice-cream."

Fin.

**A/N:** OK, just so you all know, I will get to the robot part of the series soon, but I've got a story arc of my own that I want to do first. Think of it as a late substitute for the Halloween special.

Thanks for your support, and hope you enjoy the next story.


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